Board of Audit and Inspection Notifies KBS of License Fee Refund... "Unregistered TVs Unfairly Charged"

KBS "Audit Board Notification Lacks Fairness" Rebuttal

On the 14th, the Board of Audit and Inspection notified the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) to prepare a refund plan related to the improper collection of part of the TV license fee. This was announced after conducting an audit in November last year and finalizing the caution and notification measures through the Audit Committee's resolution last month.

The Board of Audit and Inspection stated that KBS collected TV license fees for up to five years from unregistered TV viewers, which should have been imposed as fines under the Broadcasting Act instead. According to the Board, KBS collected 2.786 billion KRW in license fees from unregistered TV viewers from 2011 until September last year, exceeding the legally stipulated fines by 763 million KRW. The Board also issued a caution to KBS to thoroughly ensure that license fees exceeding the fines under the Broadcasting Act are not collected in the future.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

KBS released an explanatory statement, arguing that the Board of Audit and Inspection's disposition criteria could cause issues of fairness. KBS explained, "The Board implemented caution measures on the premise that license fees exceeding fines cannot be collected regardless of the unregistered period of the TV receiver," adding, "According to this criterion, the longer the delay in registration despite possessing a TV receiver, the more financial benefit is gained, which could lead to fairness problems in the operation of the license fee system." KBS plans to proceed with follow-up actions, including requesting a reconsideration from the Board of Audit and Inspection.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.