Swiss TV and radio licence fee to drop in 2027 and 2029

Households in Switzerland are set to benefit from a price cut to the annual radio and television licence fee, also known as the Serafe fee. 

Swiss households to benefit from Serafe fee cut

On January 1, 2027, the Serafe fee will drop from 335 Swiss francs to 312 francs, saving families and residents across Switzerland 23 francs per year. 

Then, from 2029, the TV and radio licence fee will drop a further 12 francs to 300 francs, a total saving of 35 francs compared to today. 

The price reductions will automatically be applied to the annual bill, which usually arrives by post. “Serafe obtains the necessary household information from the residents’ registers of the cantons and municipalities,” explains Südostschweiz. 

All households in Switzerland pay the fee, regardless of whether they use TV and radio services. The fee is used to help fund the SRG (Swiss Broadcasting Corporation) as well as local and regional radio and TV programmes.

In just a few circumstances can you apply for an exemption, for example if someone in the household receives “annual supplementary benefits from the AHV (Old-Age and Survivors’ Insurance) or IV (Disability Insurance).” 

Swiss voters reject "200 francs is enough" initiative

The cut to the Serafe price is a government counter-proposal to the “200 francs are enough” SRG initiative. The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) proposal sought to reduce the fee even further and cut the budget of the SRG by up to 40 percent.

Voters in Switzerland rejected the broadcasting initiative in March 2026 with 61,9 percent of the vote. Instead, the government’s response to the proposal, seen as a compromise, will go ahead.

Since you pay the TV and radio licence fee, it's worth remembering that you can access all public TV and radio networks in Switzerland (and in multiple languages too). This includes SRF (German), RTS (French), RSI (Italian) and RTR (Romansh), as well as streaming services for these providers.