PSA : introduction of a penalty for non-payment of NHK-fee starting April

37 comments

1. A decade from now there’ll be a penalty for non-payment of the penalty for non-payment of the NHK fee.

   And people still won’t pay it.

2. >av.watch

   Given what else AV means here, I’m surprised the link didn’t get filtered.

3. ugh, nihongo tabemansen , sorry

4. They’ve been talking about doing that since at least 2020 but AFAIK they’re just proposals.

5. I got out of it by removing the TV aerial and cabling from my roof.

   Now, I literally cannot receive a signal. Thank goodness.

6. Neat. This screen still doesn’t have a tuner. I mean unless NHK wanna buy me a torne/nasne or whatever the playstation DVR accessory is.

   That’d be a cool promo actually.

7. So just to be perfectly clear, if I keep ignoring NHK when they come to my door, nothing changes?

8. Ah, extortion at its finest.

9. NHK actually hasnt come to see me since I moved into this apartment over a year ago. Maybe they are banned from here or something?

   Either way I dont open the door unless im expecting a package or its someone I know, so these extra fees are just going to continue to be ignored.

10. If the ~~fee~~ enrollment is so important, why is it collected randomly by some door-knocking doofus?

    I would actually pay it if NHK sent an invoice like every other bill… or at least send a postcard saying “Our doorknocker will be in your area on DATE between the hours of TIME to collect ~~a payment of AMOUNT~~ applications for enrollment”.

    Don’t expect people to just *happen* to be home and willing to open the door for an unexpected visitor at random!

11. You’re not paying the fee! The penalty is to pay ANOTHER fee!

    …Yeah, that’ll work.

12. If a reg goes into force such that we all need to pay NHK in some manner -whether via an agreed contract or a penalty fee- then I am ok with that. They can send me the bill in the mail whenever they get around to that point.

    What I’ve always had a problem with is the current system which badgers people into entering into a contract. Issue a bond, levy a fee, or put a special tax on the sale of certain electronics – do something to make this an even application. Otherwise…bugger off.

13. Good thing my projector doesn’t have a tuner.

14. People are trying to cope with all the recent price increases and they spring this shit on us? Fuck that.

15. I’m assuming this is for people who have a contract with NHK. otherwise that would be the most insane scheme to charge people for not accepting their service lol

16. I’ve been paying for NHK for almost 2 years now, it sucks but man not having to worry everytime the doorbell rings is great.

    I have up after 8 years.

17. Get the Seal of Tachibana. No more visits from NHK!

18. some of these glorified debt collectors have such good english you’d think they’d be able to find decent jobs instead of disturbing us

19. I had to pay an extra fee to get the TV removed from the car I bought last week just because I didn’t want to be in the list of eligible people.

    I’m glad I did, I can already feel the breath of their salesmen, now empowered by the news of that new regulation, down my neck.

    The whole NHK thing is nothing more that a direct attack against democracy. A private company has special laws that technically force people to subscribe to them for just owning a tv.

    They have the technology to make it encrypted, they could even strike deals with hikariTV, jcom and other services to include the NHK as a paid extra and for the 3 baba who still use analog have a physical decryption device that costs a few hundred of yens to manufacture but they chose not to because they know they can get laws to be passed to continue their racket.

20. It doesn’t really explain how they plan on *proving* that someone missed the supposed “deadline” or how they plan on *enforcing* it.

    Plus, if you don’t answer the door and they don’t know who you are and have no definitive proof that you have a TV, surely nothing really changes.

    If this up-to-double NHK surcharge is only going to be charged to people who sign up then logically anyone who hasn’t signed up to date has even less incentive to do so.

21. I’ve have problems with two different kinds of people.

    NHK for their refusal to scramble their signal and people who watch NHK but doesn’t pay

22. Serious question, in 2023 why are we still doing this dance of collecting fees for a public broadcasting service?

    Why can’t the government just fund the NHK directly?

23. OK but what if you legitimately NEVER watch over-the-air TV and don’t even have an antenna?

24. そうか～

    *closes door*

25. Wait, you’re supposed to oay even if you don’t own a tv??

26. I’ve never been visited by NHK, not even once.

27. I’m one of those losers who pay the NHK fee. Yearly, by credit card. If I get charged in February for a year’s worth, and then the rates go down in October, do I get money back or a credit towards next year or anything?

28. When the NHK guy comes tell him you have no TV and no devices capable of watching TV.

    Then ask him if his eyes, ears and brain work and when he says “yes” tell him he owes you 12000 yen for English classes this month.

    Why? Because he has systems capable of taking English classes and whether he wants them or takes them or not is irrelevant. He can set up a time for them once a week and you are ready so pay up.

29. They don’t even bother with my house anymore; I think they just look at my name, think “oh he’s a foreigner and probably doesn’t speak Japanese” and they just go.

    Either that or they stop by when I’m at work, I’m not sure which but I haven’t seen them in quite some time.

30. Isn’t this only if you have a contract in the first place? Just avoid entering into a contract with them.

31. Serious question. Is this legal?

32. why pay double? is that even lawful?

33. Does NHK collect your info when you buy a TV in a shop? Or is it only door to door (in which you can easily deny having a TV)?

34. Are they also going to use door people to collect the non payment fee?

35. When I came here I thought I might watch other TV besides NHK, but with streaming services and limited viewing time… I never watch any channel besides NHK lol… I hate commercials too much to tolerate other news stations.

    So I have been a proper annual payer myself for several years now.

36. Should someone who doesn’t own a TV be worried about this?

    Edit: I don’t have a radio either.

37. NHK just two days ago sent me another of those super-dodgy looks-like-a-bill-but-isn’t letters addressed only to the occupant of the apartment. It even has a bogus due date in red print… with the “you only have to sign up if you have a TV” in tiny print.

    These letters cost an additional 200 yen to send over the standard 84 yen, so people have criticized these letter not just for how they deceive recipients, but how it’s something of an NHK-Japan Post boondoggle. It’s a ton of wasted money.