Not jolly, Roger.

Lucerne and Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A husband and wife taxi driver team in Kriens, canton Lucerne, have received a notice from Billag demanding that they pay the television and radio license fee for the car radio installed in their taxi, reports Blick newspaper, 22 October.

Normally, a car radio is covered by the fee paid per household, however many radios or tvs the household owns. Unless, that is, the radio is used commercially. Then the license costs from CHF223.6o per year. That is Billag’s argument in this case.

Billag is a  Swisscom subsidiary, charged by the government to collect yearly radio and tv licence fees. It sends out 12 million invoices each year and collects CHF 1.3 billion in fees for the government.

In Lausanne, taxi drivers are upset at the number of unlicenced “pirate” taxi drivers operating in the city centre. They estimate that about 20 unlicensed drivers are stealing their customers.

Links to other sites: 20Minutes, Blick (Ger)

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