ORF TV Licence: Austrian VfGH Declares Regulation Constitutional

Jul 11, 2025 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

On 24 June 2025, the Austrian Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VfGH) issued a ruling determining that the existing television licence scheme for Austria’s national public broadcaster, ORF, does not violate constitutional provisions. Consequently, the complaint was dismissed.

The complainant was requested to pay the ORF contribution for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2024. The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the appeal against the ORF contribution as unfounded.

The complainant asserted six purported violations of constitutional law

In its decision, the Court dismissed a complaint contending, among other points, that imposing the ORF TV licence equally on all households regardless of their use of ORF content violated the principle of equality. The VfFG affirmed, however, that it serves the broader interests of society for public broadcasting to fulfill its distinct democratic and cultural roles.

Furthermore, the complainant argued that payment per household is required only once, which supposedly conflicts with the principle of equality. Nonetheless, the Court advanced an alternative viewpoint, maintaining that the levy should be regarded as a financial contribution rather than an individual, usage-based fee.

The complainant also argued that the procedure for determining the amount of the ORF TV licence fee pursuant to Section 31(1), 8 and 9 of the Austrian Broadcasting Act (ORF-Gesetz, hereinafter ORF-G) had not been complied with and that the current ORF TV licence therefore violated the principle of the rule of law under Article 18(1) of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, B-VFG). The Court held that Section 31(19)(2) of the ORF-G constitutes a special provision, thereby superseding the standard procedure for determining the TV licence fee amount.

The complaint also stated that assigning ORF-Beitrags Service GmbH as the successor to Gebühren Info Service GmbH (GIS) was contrary to Article 20(1) of Austrian Constitutional Law. The Court concluded that, provided such responsibilities do not pertain to the essential functions of the state, the delegation of sovereign duties to legal entities is generally in accordance with Article 20.

The VfGH determined that the ORF TV licence does not infringe on freedom of expression as outlined in Article 10(1) of the ECHR. Article 10 does not obligate states to offer free access to information.

The ORF TV Licence Act 2023 (ORF-Beitrags-Gesetz 2023) was also challenged on the grounds of a potential breach of data protection rights; however, the Court determined that there was no violation of Section 1 of the Data Protection Act, as the requirements of Section 1(2) were fulfilled.

VfGH E4624/2024-15 (24.06.2025)