Unlicensed Radios Campaign Soon

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31196, 21 October 1966, Page 10

Unlicensed Radios Campaign Soon

A campaign against radio and television licence dodgers was overdue and would be undertaken soon, the regional engineer of the Post Office (Mr H. W. Wilkinson) said yesterday.

An examination of figures kept by the Post Office revealed that there had been an unaccountable decline since March, 1965. in the number of licensed radios in the Christchurch area.

At the end of March, 1965, there were 83,068 radio licences held >n the area, but 12 months later the figure had fallen to 81,912. Mr Wilkinson said the figures spoke for themselves and indicated that some people had failed to relicence their sets.

It was possible that there were considerably more unlicensed sets operating as figures were made up every year in March. It is more than two years since the Post Office last conducted a campaign to ensure 100 per cent licensing of radio and television sets. In the Auckland and Dunedin areas postal officials are

now searching for unlicensed sets.

Theoretically, the number of licences in force should coincide with the records held by the Post Office from year to year plus the numbers of new sets sold by retailers. From figures available, the Post Office has no reason to believe that there are many unlicensed television sets. Since March. 1965. the number of licences issued has risen from 42.460 to 55.403 at the end of last August.

The actual number of sets licensed at present is 61,057 Of these, 5722 are licensed by hirers. By law each household with one or more radio sets must have a licence. If two or more families live at one address each family must have a separate licence. Tenants or groups of tenants living in sub-let houses each must have radio licences. Transistor radios must be licensed, but sets which have been wrapped and put away need not be.