Don't you have a converter? You will not pay a TV fee!
Agreement in the High Court: "The Broadcasting Authority will not charge a fee and will not collect a fee from households or businesses that own any screen or television set without a digital converter"
The Broadcasting Authority is once again folding in the face of a class action lawsuit filed against it: the Authority will stop collecting TV fees from consumers who have a TV but are not connected to any converter box (Hot, Yes or Idan Plus) and will also refund money to consumers connected to the converter box that were charged a fee in 2013-2011.
As I recall, the authority used to charge a fee even from consumers who have a television even though they are not connected to any converter, and this on the grounds of "reception potential". Attorney Jacob Fink and Assaf Fink decided to take up the gauntlet and filed a request for a class action against the Broadcasting Authority. After discussions on the issue, Judge David Mintz of the District Court in Jerusalem called on both sides to try to come to an understanding - and indeed the Broadcasting Authority folded.
The Broadcasting Authority is supposed to publish a cease and desist notice, meaning it will announce that it will stop charging a fee to consumers who own a television that does not have a set-top box.
"The Broadcasting Authority will not charge a fee and will not collect a fee from households or businesses that own any screen or television set without a digital converter," reads the agreement submitted to the High Court.
The authority will stop collecting a fee from these consumers from July 2013, that is, for the second half of the year and beyond. It will also refund money to some of the consumers who paid a fee from July 2011 to July 2013, when the consumer must contact the Broadcasting Authority himself and have a reference from a lawyer stating that he does not have a digital converter box. In order to receive the refund, consumers "without the converters" must contact the collection division of the Authority with the required documents within 135 days.
"The authority will return to those who are found to be entitled to it the toll money they paid plus all the payments and ancillary amounts paid by the entitled person and will also return to the entitled person the linkage differences and interest for the total amount paid by the entitled person from the dates they were paid until the date of their return, and this to a bank account whose details will be provided in the said form. The refund will be made within 60 days from the day a proper form is received by the Broadcasting Authority," the settlement agreement states.
By the way, even those who want to receive TV fee exemption Because he does not have a converter, he must fill out a dedicated form and submit it to the Broadcasting Authority. "The form will include a breakdown of the sanctions given to the Broadcasting Authority against a person who makes a false statement, and among other things, the charging of a fee as well as lawful attachment and interest, the imposition of fines according to the regulations of the Broadcasting Authority, retroactive charging of a fee and the taking of legal proceedings for a false statement," the agreement states.
It was also determined in the case between the parties that the Authority will pay attorney Yaakov Vasaf Pink a fee of NIS 350,000 plus VAT, as well as NIS 80,000 to the plaintiff himself.
Adv. Assaf Fink stated that he was "happy to see how a class action succeeds in getting a public authority to reexamine a policy and change it for the benefit of the public. I hope that in the future there will be no need for a lawsuit to make the authorities reconsider their position."
This is not the first time that Israel has folded in the face of a threat of a class action lawsuit. A few months ago, the authority was sued for the procedure according to which it charged the consumer the payment of NIS of law firms that it itself hired to deal with debtors. A class action lawsuit filed on the matter caused the authority to withdraw and it also undertook to pay NIS 400,000.
מאת: לי-אור אברבך ועדי בן ישראל, Globes