How much do I save with the reduction?
§ 4 Abs. 2 RBStV reduces the fee “to one third”. From €18.36 a month, this becomes €6.12; you save €12.24 a month and €146.88 a year. For the other payment rhythms, this correspondingly works out as €18.36 per quarter instead of €55.08. It is important that this is a reduction and not an exemption: a residual fee remains and must continue to be paid. Anyone who wants to pay nothing at all should check whether a full exemption under § 4 Abs. 1 RBStV applies instead – for example on receipt of a listed social benefit, in the case of deafblindness, or on receipt of assistance for the blind.
Do I necessarily need the disability code RF?
In practice yes, legally the matter is more nuanced – and that is precisely what determines where you go first. In the text of the law, the disability code “RF” does not appear at all: § 4 Abs. 2 RBStV describes the substantive requirements itself and names blind or significantly visually impaired people with a GdB of at least 60 attributable solely to the visual impairment, deaf and certain hearing-impaired people, as well as people with a GdB of at least 80 who are unable to take part in public events. The RF is the proof with which the Beitragsservice checks these requirements, and it is granted for precisely these groups. Anyone who meets the criteria but has no RF therefore applies for it first with the Versorgungsamt – an application to the Beitragsservice without proof is rejected.
Who grants the disability code RF?
The Versorgungsamt – not the Landesrundfunkanstalt and not the Beitragsservice. In proceedings under the law on severely disabled persons, it decides on the degree of disability and on the disability codes, and enters them in the severely disabled person’s pass. If no proceedings are yet under way for you, or RF was not granted even though you meet the criteria, submit an application, or an application for a change, there, and enclose medical documents: findings on sight or hearing, specialist reports, progress reports. Expect a processing time of several months, because findings are obtained and assessed. The application for the reduction follows afterwards – and is still worthwhile even then, because the retroactive effect extends up to three years.
I have a GdB of 80 — is that enough?
Not by itself. § 4 Abs. 2 RBStV does name disabled people with a degree of disability of at least 80, but additionally requires that they are unable to take part in public events. So it is not the level of the GdB by itself, but the resulting restriction on participation, that is decisive – and the Versorgungsamt carries out precisely this check when it decides on the disability code RF. A GdB of 80 without RF therefore does not lead to a reduction. If you believe you meet the requirements, the right route is an application for a change with the Versorgungsamt together with corresponding medical documents, not an application to the Beitragsservice.
I am blind — do I get a reduction or an exemption?
That depends on exactly what applies to you, and the difference is real money. Blind people, or people with a significant and not merely temporary visual impairment, with a GdB of at least 60 attributable solely to the visual impairment fall under the reduction to one third under § 4 Abs. 2 RBStV, so they pay €6.12. Anyone who, on the other hand, receives assistance for the blind (Blindenhilfe) or is deafblind is exempted in full under § 4 Abs. 1 RBStV and pays nothing at all. So check the further-reaching route first: anyone who receives, or could receive, assistance for the blind under Book Twelve of the Social Code (SGB XII) should clarify this before settling for the reduction. Receipt of other listed social benefits also leads to full exemption.
Does the reduction also apply retroactively?
Yes, up to three years. § 4 Abs. 4 RBStV expressly speaks of “the exemption or reduction” and lets both take effect “at the earliest, however, three years before the first of the month” in which the application is submitted. For the reduction, this is especially worthwhile, and for a specific reason: the disability code RF is often granted from a date in the past, because the Versorgungsamt goes by the point in time at which the requirements were met – not by the date of the notice. So look in the notice of determination (Feststellungsbescheid), take the relevant date from it, and apply for the reduction expressly from that date. The retroactive effect is not granted automatically.
What happens if my severely disabled person’s pass expires?
Then the proof lapses, and with it the basis for the reduction – the full fee of €18.36 applies again. Severely disabled persons’ passes are often time-limited, and the deadline rarely coincides with anything else, so it is easily overlooked. Two things help: note the expiry date as soon as you receive the pass, and submit the application for an extension to the Versorgungsamt in good time – processing takes a while. Then submit the new proof to the Beitragsservice before a gap arises. If a gap does arise, it can usually be closed retroactively afterwards, because the three-year retroactive effect also applies here; but it is more convenient and cheaper to avoid it.
Do I have to pay the full fee while the application is being processed?
Yes. Like the application for an exemption, the application for a reduction also has no suspensive effect: until approval, you owe the full fee of €18.36. Anyone who, on their own initiative, transfers only €6.12 creates arrears – and after four weeks, a late-payment penalty (Säumniszuschlag) of 1%, at least €8.00, falls due on this, which eats up the hoped-for saving for months. The safe route is the opposite: keep paying, wait for approval, and have the difference refunded. In the case of retroactive approval, the overpayment is balanced out for the entire period, so that nothing is economically lost to you – only the interest advantage, and that is negligible at these amounts.
