The Independent Media Commission (IMC), on August 4, 2023, under the leadership of the Chairman of the IMC, Mr. Jeton Mehmeti, held its fifth regular meeting, where it addressed the issue of unpaid debts from licensed entities. In this meeting, the Commission has also invited the Private Executor engaged by the IMC to report.

Based on the data of the finance department of the IMC, Chairman Mehmeti said that the level of debt is currently close to 794 thousand euros, of which over 507 thousand euros are license fee debts and about 264 thousand euros are fines without paying. He added that the data show that non-payment of the license fee by some entities has been systemic since 2011. Of the 507 thousand euros in debts from the license fee, 398 thousand euros, or 78%, have been accumulated in the period 2011-2020. Here we must single out the public broadcaster who has not paid the license fee for seven years (2014 – 2019 and 2021), accumulating a debt of 165,430 euros just for the license fee.

Chairman Mehmeti said that based on the Law on the Independent Media Commission (Article 3), the IMC is obliged to collect the tax from the licensed entities. Based on this legal obligation, the Commission has made a decision that obliges all licensees who have debts to pay off their debts within 30 days or to come to an agreement with the executor for payment in installments up to 12 months. Otherwise, we will be forced to terminate, namely the non-renewal of the license, said Chairman Mehmeti.

In this meeting, the members of the Commission, Mr. Besnik Berisha, Mrs. Luljeta Aliu, Mrs. Azra Desic and Mr. Fatih Basha, have submitted questions to the Private Executor regarding his efficiency in collecting financial obligations, in which case they have asked him for a detailed report on the level of receivables to date.