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400,000 households avoid paying for a TV licence by watching BBC programmes on iPlayer

Catch up service allows users to access shows without paying
Nearly all of the broadcaster�s shows are available on iPlayer
Figures suggest growing number are taking advantage of legal loophole

By Leon Watson

PUBLISHED: 19:12, 17 June 2013 | UPDATED: 07:19, 18 June 2013

The BBC has revealed more than 400,000 households have said they do not need a TV licence because they only watch the broadcaster�s iPlayer service.

The catch up service allows users to access shows without paying � nearly all of the broadcaster�s shows are available on iPlayer with Match of the Day one of the few exceptions.

The figures suggest a growing number are taking advantage of a legal loophole under which they do not need to spend �145.50 on a licence fee because they watch only DVDs or programmes on BBC iPlayer and other catch up services.
The BBC has revealed more and more people are not paying their television licence fee because they say they are only watching programmes on iPlayer

The BBC has revealed more and more people are not paying their television licence fee because they say they are only watching programmes on iPlayer

For although a licence is needed to watch TV as it is being broadcast, those who wait for a few minutes for programmes to become available on catch-up services do not need to pay.

The BBC has even started premiering some programmes on iPlayer before they transmit on TV, such as a new Peter Kay sitcom.

The data has come to light following a request under the Freedom of Information Act asking for the number of households in each of the past five years which had told the corporation that they did not need a licence.

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The figures show that 428,359 households declared last year that they did not need a TV licence, up from 425,590 the previous year.

Yesterday, Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the Taxpayers� Alliance said the information would cause more people to question 'whether they really need live broadcasting or whether they can save some money by not paying the licence fee'.

�It is getting harder and harder to make the licence fee work because there are now so many different ways of viewing TV content.�
The figures show that 428,359 households declared last year that they did not need a TV licence, up from 425,590 the previous year

The figures show that 428,359 households declared last year that they did not need a TV licence, up from 425,590 the previous year

The BBC initially claimed that disclosing the information would be 'of use to those seeking to evade paying the licence fee.'

The Times appealed on the basis that there was a public interest in the information being disclosed and that it was perfectly legal to watch catch-up television without a licence.

Fears that more people would become aware of the loophole if the figures were published was not a legitimate reason for refusing to reveal them. The appeal was upheld last week following an internal review by the BBC.

However, the BBC said there were many different reasons why households did not need a licence.

In a statement the broadcaster said: 'There are a number of reasons for notifying TV Licensing if no licence is needed.

'It is getting harder and harder to make the licence fee work because there are now so many different ways of viewing TV content.'

Taxpayers� Alliance

'These include: if the address is unoccupied; if no TV receiving equipment is being used at the address; if a TV is used only to watch DVDs or for gaming purposes; or if only catch-up or on-demand services are used at the address.'

It said only 0.2 per cent of UK viewers exclusively watch catch-up services.

Yesterday, TV Licensing revealed some of the excuses it has been given by people trying to avoid paying the licence fee.

This included one person from Dundee claiming they merely used the glow from the set as a lamp to help them read.

Another from Belfast said they did not think they needed a licence because their pet corgi was said to be related to one of the Queen's dogs.

The examples were revealed by officials from TV Licensing as they launched a drive to encourage more people to pay up.

Other excuses included a Londoner claiming to be unable to get to the shops because the Olympic torch relay had made the area too busy, while another person, from Leeds, who was caught said they were unable to pay as they had been barred from their local outlet after being caught shoplifting.

Another from Kilmarnock in Scotland is said to have claimed they did not bother to buy one because they had stolen the TV set.

One from Manchester said it was their three-year-old son that watched the TV and asked if it could be taken out of the family allowance.

There are so many repeats, antiques shows and other cr*p on BBC, I rarely watch it. The news is left wing biassed , Question Time is left wing biassed and the Sunday Politics show yesterday was a disgrace. Andrew Neil really laid into Tommy Robinson, the leader of EDL - hardly letting the man get a word in edgeways. I have to say that it was an own goal for the BBC because I'm sure support for the EDL went up. When he was allowed to speak, what he said was truthful, seen from an average person's point of view and accurate. What is the point of inviting somebody onto a show and then not let him have his say without being browbeaten and constantly interrupted? Neil then interviewed an 'educated' Muslim chap and he was as nice as pie to him, TWO FACED BBC =BOYS BIASED CLUB, get rid of it and save money all around.