Pensioners in Britain who have watched television such as “Blue Planet” and “Doctor Who” for free will have to start paying after the publicly-funded BBC said it would scrap free licences for those over 75-years-old. The BBC, which is funded by a tax on all television watching households, said around 3.7 million pensioners who previously received a free TV licence will have to pay when its new rules come into force in June 2020. In 2015 it had to take over the cost of providing free licences for over-75s by 2020 as part of its latest funding round. The BBC said the funding available for British services is already 24 percent lower than if the licence fee had gone up with inflation from 2010. It estimates the new scheme will cost it around 250 million pounds ($317 million) a year.

Source: The Hindu June 11, 2019 02:48 UTC