All information about how the method of collecting the audiovisual fee may change is currently scant and largely unofficial. It is certain that the fee, contrary to announcements about the abolition of the RTV subscription, will not be abolished, but only the way it is enforced will change. This will make the fee collection significantly greater than it is now.
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Poles do not want to pay the RTV subscription
Currently the RTV subscription fee in Poland is derived from the Act on subscription fees adopted on 21 April 2005. For more than two decades there has been a discussion about what should be changed and whether the subscription should even be paid by Poles, or whether public media should be financed directly from the state budget. Politicians have repeatedly suggested that this is the only legitimate solution, but nothing has been done. Now it turns out that Poles will still have to pay for receivers, only the collection of this fee will be hidden in other bills.
Why do Poles not want to pay? Some people avoid fees due to savings. Others believe that since they pay a subscription for, for example, “cable” or “satellite TV”, the operator from whose services they use should pay the subscription on their behalf. There are also people who do not want to pay the subscription because of the content appearing in public media, and more precisely they say they will not pay for “government propaganda”.
Currently just under 30% of Poles pay the monthly radio‑television fee. Recall that the monthly fee for a radio receiver is 8.7 PLN in 2026, and for television (then you do not have to pay separately for radio) - 27.3 PLN.
New fees from 2027
Many indications suggest that the current form of collecting the radio‑television fee from Poles will end with 2026, and from 2027 a new method of collecting the tax will apply. From the information that has reached the public opinion it appears that the government’s proposal may involve embedding the RTV subscription into other fees, for example in the electricity bill, which would mean that everyone who has electricity in the house would have to pay the fee. The fee would probably be lower than it is now, as it would amount to between 8 and 15 PLN per month per meter. The tax would be collected automatically without the possibility of opting out.
Other devices that allow viewing television, such as computers, tablets or smartphones, could also be subject to fees.
Penalties for not paying the RTV subscription
Currently every holder of a radio or television is obliged to pay the RTV subscription, although in practice very few people do (just under 30%). The check to see whether a receiver is in the home or apartment can be carried out by employees of the Polish Post. The controller can enter the building or apartment only with the owner’s consent, which in practice means that there is no tool to conduct a check.
If however the controller can prove that someone has a receiver, for example a television, and does not pay the RTV subscription, a penalty is imposed. In such a case the Polish Post charges a thirty‑fold monthly fee. In the case of televisions, in 2026 this means a penalty of almost 820 PLN.
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