Petition · past parliament
Remove the watch live tv rule from being a requirement for a tv licence
Rejected
10 signatures
What the petition asks
Remove the Watching Live TV Rule from the television licence criteria. Make this BBC Services only.
The BBC are no longer working under the terms of their charter. The lack of impartiality is both embarrassment and does not reflect the views of a lot of people who are funding them.
Having a Live TV rule is restrictive and stops people watching other channels that in some instances they are paying for.
This is in effect a golden handcuffs deal that binds people to have a service that they neither use nor want.
In the digital age, having a licence should enable the BBC to turn on and off in the same way that other services do.
Having a Live TV rule is restrictive and stops people watching other channels that in some instances they are paying for.
This is in effect a golden handcuffs deal that binds people to have a service that they neither use nor want.
In the digital age, having a licence should enable the BBC to turn on and off in the same way that other services do.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: Only require TV licences to view BBC television content
Timeline
| 24 Mar 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 31 Mar 2021 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
10
Status
Rejected
Rejected
31 Mar 2021
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.