17. 11. 2005

FAKE TV SUBSRIPTION BILLS

BELGRADE, November 17, 2005 – Although the charge of the subscription has been announced to start in December, one Belgrade company reported to have received a phantom TV subscription bill. The bill was printed on high quality color paper, with RTS logo and due date November 21. The subscription is announced to be charged together with the electricity bill, not separately; however this odd bill does not contain the heading for the electricity expenditure nor any information on the Electric Distribution Belgrade or Electric Power Industry of Serbia, a public company in charge of collection of TV subscription. RTS General Director Aleksandar Tijanic told the Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti that the mysterious “bill” was forged and ought to be taken to the police immediately. “How is it possible that you, out of all people, get this bill, when you were the ones writing against the subscription the most”, Tijanic wondered. President of the Association of Serbian Journalists (UNS) Nino Brajovic said the appearance of the mysterious bill only proved the great interest in TV subscription, and it could create a solid ground for politicization and manipulation. According to Brajovic, this should be regarded as a serious problem, not just a prank. The bill delivered to the daily Glas javnosti contained the RTS bank account details, Tax Identification Number, P.O. Box for RTV subscription in 88 Kneza Viseslava Street in Belgrade and company’s identification number. The daily checked the details on the official website of the National Bank of Serbia and confirmed that the account and VAT number indeed belonged to Radio Television Serbia. No other cases of fake bills being delivered to other companies’ addresses were reported, which could mean that the forger might belong to an organized group. One thing is sure – the fake bills and dispersing of false information must not be regarded as innocent criminal acts, and requires a prompt reaction of the police.