Broadcasting Licence Fee
In Germany, every registered exchange student is required to pay a broadcasting license fee. The Residents’ Registration Office automatically notifies the license fee collection agency (German: Beitragsservice) as soon as you have registered in Paderborn. You will then receive your personal license number, which you must use for all further contact with the ‘Beitragservice’ agency.
The following rule applies:
A monthly broadcasting license fee is charged for each flat, regardless of how many people live there. It does not matter whether or how many receiving devices, such as radios, televisions, computers, or smartphones, are present.
In a shared flat, the costs are generally split among all WG members. One roommate must register with the contribution service as the designated (main) payer and is responsible for making the payment. The roommates decide together who this person should be. The other WG members can deregister with the contribution office, provided they also name the main payer for the flat.
? Please note that you are personally responsible for matters related to the broadcasting license fee. Neither the university nor the Studentenwerke Paderborn (STW) can intervene in this process.
Further information on this topic can be found here and on the ‘Beitragsservice’ website.