Serafe Switzerland: the household radio and television fee

What the Serafe bill is, why it lands in your letterbox soon after you register, and how to deal with it without losing time.

Within weeks of registering your address with a Swiss commune, most new residents receive a letter from Serafe AG. It looks official, mentions a fee, and gives no obvious explanation of why it exists or what happens if you ignore it. For anyone new to Switzerland, this is a common and understandable source of confusion.

Serafe is the company mandated by the Swiss confederation to collect the household radio and television fee, a charge that funds public broadcasting and applies to virtually every private household in the country. This page explains how the system works, what to check on your own notice, and where the process catches out expats and returning Swiss residents alike. My Swiss Relocation includes this topic in our settling-in support so you are not left guessing what an unfamiliar Swiss administrative letter means.

How the Serafe radio and TV fee works

Serafe AG collects the household fee for radio and television on behalf of the Swiss confederation. Since the system changed some years ago, the fee is charged per household rather than per device, so it applies whether or not you own a television, a radio, or a streaming subscription, and regardless of how many people live at the address.

Serafe does not send agents to your door and does not ask you to declare which devices you own. Instead, it identifies households automatically using the population registers held by Swiss communes, which is why a first letter typically arrives soon after you complete your municipal registration.

Each household normally receives one annual invoice, split by Serafe into instalments if requested. The exact fee amount is set by the confederation and can change from year to year, so we recommend checking the current amount directly on the official Serafe website rather than relying on a figure that may already be outdated.

Charged per household, not per person or per device
Based on the address you register with your commune
Billed automatically, without a declaration form to fill in
Amount set annually at national level and published by Serafe

What to check when the first Serafe letter arrives

The most frequent issue we see among newly arrived clients is confusing a genuine Serafe notice with unrelated mail, or assuming it is optional because no television is present in the home. Neither assumption is safe, and the letter deserves a careful read rather than being set aside.

Verify that the household composition and address shown on the letter match your actual situation, particularly if you share an apartment with flatmates, if you moved mid-year, or if your commune registered you slightly later than your actual move-in date. Errors in these details are the main cause of billing disputes.

Shared flats and multiple registered adults

Where several unrelated adults share one dwelling, Serafe generally treats them as separate households for billing purposes once each is registered individually at the commune. This differs from families or couples living together, who are billed once per home.

Confirm with flatmates who is expected to receive the invoice
Keep a copy of your commune registration confirming your address
Contact Serafe directly if you believe you have been billed twice for one household

Keep the letter and your commune registration confirmation together. If a query arises later, Serafe will ask for the exact date you registered at your address.

Exemptions and reduced situations

A limited number of households can be exempted from the fee, most commonly recipients of certain federal supplementary benefits. The conditions and the application process are defined by Serafe and the confederation, and change from time to time, so we do not summarise exact eligibility rules here.

If you believe your situation may qualify for an exemption, the safest approach is to check the current criteria on the official Serafe website and, if in doubt, contact Serafe directly before disputing or ignoring an invoice.

Do not simply stop paying if you believe you are exempt. An unresolved invoice can escalate to reminders and collection fees while your exemption request is still pending.

How My Swiss Relocation helps with the Serafe fee and similar bills

The Serafe letter is one of several unfamiliar administrative documents that arrive in the first weeks after a move to Switzerland, alongside communal tax notices, health insurance confirmations, and utility bills. Taken individually, each is manageable; arriving together, in a language you may not read fluently, they add up to real friction.

As part of our settling-in support, we help you recognise these documents as they arrive, confirm which ones require action versus which are purely informational, and flag anything that looks like an error before it becomes a dispute.

Rather than researching each Swiss administrative letter on your own, our consultants review your incoming mail with you during your settling-in support and tell you exactly what the Serafe notice means for your household.

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What's Included

Explanation of the Serafe letter and what it means for your household
Verification that your commune registration details match the invoice
Guidance on shared-flat and multiple-household billing questions
Signposting to the official Serafe channels for exemption requests or disputes
Coordination with your broader settling-in checklist, including banking and telecoms

Steps and Timeline

Register your address at the commune

The Serafe billing process is triggered by your municipal registration, so this is the starting point regardless of when you plan to buy a television or set up internet access.

Review the first Serafe letter with us

We check the household composition, address, and billing period shown on the notice against your actual situation during a settling-in session.

Confirm payment method or exemption eligibility

If a reduced situation may apply, we point you to the official Serafe process; otherwise we help you set up payment in a way that fits your household budget.

File the letter with your other Swiss administrative documents

We help you build a simple filing habit for recurring notices like this one, so future letters are easy to recognise and act on without our support.

Common Mistakes

Assuming the fee does not apply because the household owns no television
Ignoring the letter because it looks unfamiliar or is mistaken for advertising mail
Letting flatmates each assume the other has dealt with the invoice
Disputing or stopping payment without going through the official Serafe process first
Losing track of the notice among other unfamiliar first-month administrative mail

Also Worth Reading

Service Settling-In Services in Switzerland Service Open a bank account in Switzerland as an expat Service Swiss sim card and internet, set up without the guesswork

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Serafe and why did I receive a letter from them?

Serafe AG is the company mandated to collect the Swiss household radio and television fee. It identifies households through commune population registers, so a letter typically arrives shortly after you register your address, whether or not you own a television or radio.

Do I have to pay the Serafe fee if I do not own a television?

Generally yes. The fee is charged per household rather than per device, on the basis that it funds public broadcasting infrastructure available to everyone. If you believe your situation is an exception, check the current rules on the official Serafe website before disputing the invoice.

How much is the Serafe fee and can it change?

The fee is set annually at national level and can change from one year to the next, so we recommend checking the current amount on the official Serafe website rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere, which may be out of date.

Can flatmates be billed separately for the same address?

Where several unrelated adults are each individually registered at the same address, Serafe may treat them as separate households and bill each one. Couples and families living together are typically billed once. If you believe you were billed in error, contact Serafe directly.

What happens if I do not pay the Serafe invoice?

An unpaid invoice typically leads to reminders and can eventually incur additional fees or be passed to collection. If you dispute the bill or believe you qualify for an exemption, address this through the official Serafe process rather than simply not paying.

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