Legal repercussions

Trouble over salary execution due to ORF fees

The former GIS fees have now been switched to a new system.

(Bild: Stock Adobe)

A letter from the district court regarding allegedly outstanding payments was something a man from southern Burgenland was not prepared to accept. More than 500 euros were deducted from his salary.

The broadcasting fees and contributions for the ORF have regularly caused and continue to cause discussion. As reported, an ice cream vendor was recently ordered to pay the full annual fee for each of his sales outlets. The anger was great. And he is not the only one.

More than 500 euros gone
Klaus A. from Rechnitz is also very displeased. He received a letter from the district court stating that a writ of execution against his person had been granted. The reason: an "enforceable certificate of arrears" from ORF-Beitrags Service GmbH. It went on to list a number of small and very small amounts, apparently still outstanding, whose enforceability dated back years. In total, more than 500 euros had been deducted from his pay slip, says the man from southern Burgenland.

Bills always paid
He cannot quite understand why. The ORF fees demanded had always been paid, explains A., but he admits that some amounts may have been paid a little late. Nevertheless, he did not want to let the salary execution sit on him and lodged an objection - especially as he had never received the execution order from the enforcing party. The case went back to court and ended in his favor.

"Money is then gone"
The pursuing creditor had not submitted the requested execution order, the district court found. "If someone forgets to file an objection or is unable to do so, the ORF is successful and the money is gone," says Rechnitzer angrily. He sees this as a pure attempt to rip people off, as attempts have also been made to collect the full amount of a fee that has already been paid.

Weeks of negotiation
But the matter was not over yet. It took several hours of phone calls and legal work to get the money back. After a few weeks, A. received most of the money back. 43 euros were retained as a processing fee.

A "madness"
"Madness" for the man from Burgenland: "Where do we live here? I have to spend hours on the phone to get my money back. Nobody compensates me for the time, but I have to pay a fee for the processing." Only after an application to the GIS fee collection agency was this money also refunded after a long time.

Contribution office sees a "very rare case"
The ORF contribution office OBS says that this is a "very rare case". The customer had paid the GIS fees by standing order, but always too late - i.e. after they were due. A fee increase at the time was also only taken into account much later. In this way, late payment surcharges and outstanding partial amounts had accumulated over the years.

Execution discontinued
"Statements of arrears were also issued, which, after payment reminders, reminders and debt collection by a debt collection agency, ultimately led to execution. The late payment of the wrong amount without a reference number led to a postponement of the claims (sic). The execution was therefore discontinued", the Contribution Office announced. A. pays the advance notices for the new ORF contribution on time.