BBC viewers are expected to pay the £159 fee for their TV licence on a yearly basis. However, those who are avoiding to pay the fee have been warned about the consequences.
Even if you watch an episode of a TV show as a one-off without a TV licence, you can still get hit with a hefty fine.
Lawyer Nasir Hafezi explained on TikTok why it’s important to pay the annual fee instead of dodging it.
‘A person can be sent to jail’
Hafezi said “it is an offence under Section 363 of Communications Act 2003” to watch any live television. This includes people using streaming services or iPlayer without a valid TV livence.
While Netflix and other subscription-based services are increasing in popularity, many still tune into the BBC for the news and their favourite shows.
Avoiding the fee can lead to prosecution and owing the courts up to £1,000, which doesn’t include legal costs. Even worse, however, there is some cases where you can be sent to jail.
“Where there is a refusal to pay the fine and all other enforcement methods have been tried, a person can be sent to jail,” Hafezi continued.
He added: “While you cannot go to prison for simply not paying your TV licence fee, you can go to prison if you deliberately refuse to pay the court fine.”
‘More women get convicted than men for evading the fine’
Upon his research, Hafezi found out that “more women get convicted than men for evading the fine”.
“72% of the 137,912 defendants prosecuted for this offence were female,” he added.
“This could be due to the greater availability of females in the home when a TV Licensing Officer visits the house in person.”
Surprising results proved that only 4% of men in 2017 were prosecuted for TV licence evasion. The statistic for women women was far higher at 30%.
There were no prison admissions associated with non-payment of a fine, as of 2020. Since 2014, no one over 75 has been imprisoned.
Read more: BBC announces changes to TV licence fee and help for women in severe financial hardship
Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and then let us know what you think of this story.