- The amendment increases the Czech Television fee by 15 crowns to 150 crowns per month and Czech Radio by 10 crowns to 55 crowns per month.
- Equipment capable of receiving broadcasts is to be covered, i.e. not only for television and radio receivers, but also for so-called smartphones, tablets and computers.
- The principle remains that one fee per household applies, regardless of the number of devices.
The draft provokes criticism from the opposition. ANO and SPD leaders Andrej Babiš and Tomio Okamura they talked about flat tax and Babiš and the corruption of a pair of public media. Minister of Culture Martin Baxa (ODS) talked about strengthening their independence and resilience and ensuring stable funding.
In the first reading, the deputies finally voted for the change, despite widespread obstruction. The opposition failed to return the proposal to the government for revision. The rejection of the draft was supported by 71 opposition MPs out of a total of 167 present members of the lower house.
The debate lasted about 18 hours today and yesterday. The amendment will now go to the parliamentary media committee for considerationafter which it could possibly return back to the House for a second reading.
At the same time, Okamura did not push through a resolution that the House would have called for The Supreme Audit Office (NAO) for auditing the management of Czech Television and Czech Radio with fees and an evaluation of the effectiveness of expenses.
The amendment includes a six percent increase in fees if the sum of annual inflation rates exceeds six percent. Payments for legal entities are also changing. In their case, the amount of the fee should no longer depend on the number of receivers, but on the number of employees.
However, the deputies did not elect anyone to the Council of Czech Television and the Council of Czech Radio, none of the candidates received the required number of votes. One seat will remain vacant in both councils. The new election will probably take place in the fall.
