All OAPs urged to cancel BBC licence fee direct debits as over-75s sent letter today demanding £157.50
OAP Brits have been urged to cancel their TV licence fee direct debits as millions of over-75s are sent letters today demanding they pay the £157.50 bill.
The BBC has hired 800 licence fee 'agents' to ensure pensioners pay the annual levy as the war over it being scrapped for the elderly rages on.
Campaigners have told over-60s to cancel their payments in solidarity with over 75s instead of offering to set up monthly instalments.
Dennis Reed, from Silver Voices, one of the groups behind the protest, told that they were planning a “long attritional campaign” to make the Beeb change their mind.
Mr Reed said many of his members were refusing to cough up and he hopes the movement will throw a spanner into the TV Licensing’s enforcement and collection system.
However, those who refuse to pay can also face criminal prosecution and even prison.
There were 129,446 prosecutions for licence-fee evasion in 2018 which led to 120,533 fines.
Only five who refused to pay the fines were jailed that year.
LICENCE FEE REVOLT
Jan Shortt, of the National Pensioner’s Convention, said her members were prepared to face a day in court for the cause.
But she added: “We cannot condone people breaking the law.
“But, individually, each member will take their own choice. There will be people who refuse to pay.”
Four and a half million pensioners will be sent a 16-page letter and application form when then their licence expires.
We cannot condone people breaking the law. But, individually, each member will take their own choice. There will be people who refuse to pay.
Jan Shortt, of the National Pensioner’s Convention
Each household should submit photocopies of their documents from the Department for Work and Pensions or the Pension Service to prove that they are in receipt of pension credit.
A bank statement will also be accepted if they don’t have access to a photocopier.
The BBC agreed to make over-75s exempt from the fee back in 2015 after an agreement was hammered out with the Government.
The subsidy will continue to be offered to over-75s on pension credit – which includes those on a weekly income below £173.75 and couples on less than £265.20.
But Corporation bosses have since said the BBC cannot afford to continue the universal entitlement, which would hit "programmes and services".
The move has been slammed by campaigners and politicians with Boris Johnson saying the Beeb has made the “wrong decision”.
An official spokesman for the PM said last month: "We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe that they should be funded by the BBC."
Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said it was a “sad day” for elderly Brits who feel like they are being “let down” by the government and the BBC.
She said that "more than half a million of the poorest pensioners will still have to pay for a licence, cut spending on other essentials like food or heating, give up TV altogether or keep watching without a licence, in breach of the law" because they still do not qualify for pension credit.
"It is deplorable that any older person should have to make such a horrible choice.”
Continuing with the Government scheme would have cost £745 million a year and rising.
BBC Spokeswoman
However, the BBC said maintaining the subsidy would cost £745million a year and would lead to the closure of BBC Two as well as other channels and radio station.
A spokeswoman said: "It was the Government that ended funding for over-75s TV licences" and that the "BBC has made the fairest decision possible to support the poorest, oldest pensioners".
She added: "Critically, it isn't the BBC making judgments about poverty - the Government sets and controls pension credit.
"The decision to start the new scheme in August has not been easy but delaying the introduction has cost the BBC over £70 million and we cannot afford to delay any further.
"Continuing with the Government scheme would have cost £745 million a year and rising and would have meant the closures of BBC Two, BBC Four, the BBC News Channel, the BBC Scotland channel, Radio 5 Live, and a number of local radio stations.
"These closures would profoundly damage the BBC for everyone, especially older people who use the BBC the most."
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A Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport spokesperson said: "We are bitterly disappointed by the BBC's decision not to extend the over 75 licence fee concession beyond August.
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"The BBC remains responsible for the concession and for setting out what those affected will now need to do. It must now look urgently at how it can use its substantial licence fee income to deliver for audiences of all ages, including by making efficiencies."
The DCMS says the Government agreed a deal with the BBC in 2015, which the director-general said provided "financial stability".
