fees austria
Radio licence fee for Echo Dot?
<p>Does placing a device such as Alexa Echo Dot in my home entail the obligation to pay radio fees (Rundfunkgebühren/ GIS-Gebühren) in Austria? Since by court decision (mentioned in this <a href="https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000019408029/vwgh-keine-gis-gebuehr-fuer-computer-mit-internet-anschluss" rel="nofollow noreferrer">article</a>）it isn’t the case for my computer, which can equally well receive radio programmes, I strongly assume „no“ to be the answer. But I’d rather hear a more expert opinion.</p>

<p>The GIS <a href="https://www.gis.at/information/meldepflicht" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Website</a> includes the following part about devices without radio that nonetheless have to be paid for, whose meaning I don’t quite understand (the problem being not the language but the technical terms):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Geräte ohne Rundfunktechnologien - in Kombination mit einer Gerätekonstellation (etwa Kabel, SAT, dvb-T, etc.), die Rundfunk wahrnehmbar macht - sind ebenso melde- und gebührenpflichtig. Dies gilt auch für Geräte ohne Tuner und ohne Antennen-Anschluss (z.B.: KAGIS, NOGIS, Pop-Tech, etc.).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I fear Alexa might also count as „making radio perceptible“.</p>

<p>I'm guessing that an Amazon Echo would be treated equally to a laptop or smart phone. Apparently Austrian courts decided in 2015 that it's NOT required to pay Rundfunkgebühr for this. </p>

<p>This is different from Germany where the supreme court decided in 2012 that you need to cough up cash for any internet connected device. See <a href="https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/webwelt/article109585342/Karlsruhe-Internetfaehige-PC-sind-GEZ-pflichtig.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/webwelt/article109585342/Karlsruhe-Internetfaehige-PC-sind-GEZ-pflichtig.html</a></p>

<p>Apparently it's still free in Austria. From the GIS website  <a href="https://www.oesterreich.gv.at/themen/bauen_wohnen_und_umwelt/umzug/5/Seite.180303.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.oesterreich.gv.at/themen/bauen_wohnen_und_umwelt/umzug/5/Seite.180303.html</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Das bedeutet, dass Haushalte, die das ORF-Radioprogramm derzeit nur über Internet empfangen, künftig keine Rundfunkgebühren und die damit verbundenen Abgaben und Entgelte bezahlen müssen</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Translation: <em>"This means, that households that receive ORF radio programming only via Internet are not required to pay ... "</em></p>
