NHK considers utilizing My Number system to boost fee payment rate

NHK President Katsuto Momii on Oct. 1 said he would consider using the newly introduced Social Security and Tax Number System to have more people pay the public broadcaster's viewing fees.

"I want to actively consider use of My Number," Momii said in a regular news conference, citing the familiar name for the numbers, which are being assigned to people across Japan.

A Liberal Democratic Party committee involved in revisions to the Broadcast Act suggested on Sept. 24 that payment of the viewing fee be made compulsory, and suggested using the My Number system to NHK and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Momii refrained from commenting on the idea of making payments compulsory, but on the question of fining people who don't pay the fees, he said, "It would be better not to do so. Even if we were to impose fines, it would be impossible without acquiring more (paying households)." He thus expressed an interest in using the Social Security and Tax Number System to boost the viewing fee payment rate.

As of the end of March this year, the payment rate stood at 76 percent. Obstacles to collecting fees, such an increase in apartment buildings with automatically locking entrances and the inability to track people who have moved, have raised the question of how to secure more paying households.

For NHK to utilize the My Number system, the Broadcast Act would need to be revised. If viewing fees were collected forcibly in the same way as taxes, however, the current system -- where public broadcasting is supported by the trust of the viewers -- would likely change significantly.