Angry entrepreneur

ORF contribution for company? “Then I’d rather lock up”

An entrepreneur from the Mostviertel region is opposed to mandatory ORF contributions for his company: "We don't have radio for security reasons."

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, krone.at-Grafik)

An entrepreneur from the Mostviertel (Lower Austria) wants to defend himself against ORF contributions for his company. He is even threatening to close his business (where radio is banned) if he is ordered to pay by the courts.

"It can only be a mistake," thought Markus Abel, head of a locksmith's shop in St. Valentin in the Amstetten district, when he received a letter from ORF-Beitrags Service GmbH at his company. The letter asked him to pay the ORF fees for his business.

"Double the fee"
"My workers and employees already pay these fees at their home address, just like me. I will certainly not pay an unjustified double fee at the company," Abel defends himself, citing another reason against a transfer: "In my production plant, it is not permitted to turn up the radio for safety reasons."

For safety reasons, it is not allowed to turn up the radio in my company.

Firmenchef Markus Abel

If the demand for payment remains in place, the Mostviertel native announces drastic steps: "I will contest this in court. If the court rules against me, I will close my company. Then our politicians will have more unemployed people to answer for!"

New regulation
But Abel's chances appear to be slim, as the new ORF contribution law stipulates that from this year onwards, businesses for which municipal tax was paid in the previous year will have to pay the fee. The amount depends on the total amount of wages. There are only exceptions if a private individual is registered at the address of a business - then only the company pays.