Flood victims can now be exempted from their license fees under certain conditions.

ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio have agreed on unbureaucratic relief, the administrative community announced on Sunday to the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf.

Fee payers whose fee-paying apartments, business premises or vehicles can no longer be used due to flood damage can request that their account be de-registered from the fee service (formerly known as the Fee Collection Center).

Specifically, the following rules apply: If an apartment, a business location or a car is only temporarily unusable, there is the option of temporarily deregistering the relevant contribution account for this period.

All it takes is a phone call.

If the apartment, business premises or vehicle have been completely destroyed and can no longer be used, the obligation to contribute ends and the account can be canceled immediately.

A short written notification to the contribution service is sufficient for this, announced the communications department.

Permanent cancellation without proof, but it is checked

Permanent deregistration is possible without proof.

However, in both cases, the contribution service checks on the basis of official official information whether the account is actually a potentially affected address.

According to the information, it is possible to deregister up to six months retrospectively from July 1, 2021.

Affected contributors would have until the end of the year.

Any contributions that have been paid too much should be reimbursed.

In addition, agreements on deferment of payment are possible.

Further information and the necessary online forms should be published on the Internet shortly at rundfunkbeitrag.de

"The contribution service of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio expresses its condolences to all those affected, especially those who have lost relatives due to the flood, and assures that their concerns will be dealt with quickly and unbureaucratically," the statement said.

The contribution service based in Cologne is an unincorporated administrative association of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio. It emerged in 2013 from the fee collection center of the public broadcasting corporations (GEZ), which was founded in 1973 and was responsible for collecting the license fee until the end of 2012. The main tasks of the contribution service are the collection of the radio license fee and the administration of around 46 million private and non-private contribution accounts.