ZBC licence fees to be reduced by January 2026 

The government will reduce Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) licence fees by January next year, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere has announced, following months of public outcry over the mandatory vehicle radio licence fees introduced earlier this year.

Speaking at the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) annual stakeholders’ conference in Harare recently, Minister Muswere said the “whole government” had taken an approach to bring down ZBC tariffs, an acknowledgment of the widespread concern from motorists and media stakeholders.

“We have a whole government approach to reduce prices, that is, the licence fees of ZBC,” Muswere said.

“The reduction will be coming by January, I am sure that’s when the reduction will be finalised.”

His remarks follow intense backlash triggered on 23 May 2025, when the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act (No. 2 of 2025) came into force.

The new law made it compulsory for motorists to pay ZBC radio licence fees when renewing vehicle insurance or obtaining a ZINARA licence disc.

Under the current tariff structure, private vehicle owners pay US$23 per quarter or US$92 per year,  while corporate-owned vehicles pay US$50 per quarter, amounting to US$200 per year.

The requirement applies even to motorists who do not receive ZBC radio signals, as long as they own a vehicle with a radio set.

Those without radios may apply for an exemption affidavit while motorists who do not pay the licence fee are barred from obtaining insurance or a licence disc.

The move triggered widespread criticism, especially from motorists who argued they were being forced to subsidise a public broadcaster they did not necessarily consume, while others questioned ZBC’s content quality and its reliance on compulsory fees.

Reports estimate that Zimbabwe has 1.2 million registered vehicles, but only around 800,000 have valid insurance, suggesting potential revenue gaps and compliance challenges.

ZBC currently survives on a combination of licence fees, limited advertising revenue and government grants.

However, Muswere defended the licensing framework, saying ZBC plays a constitutional public service role that requires predictable funding to sustain nationwide broadcasting.

“I want to assure you… you recall ZBC is a platform that serves as a national broadcaster,” he said.

“Resources secured from ZBC will be utilised for local content production, the same resources will be utilised to expand our terrestrial infrastructure, which means all of you as players will benefit from the licence fees.”

He said ZBC does not operate in isolation, but within a broader broadcasting ecosystem that includes the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and Transmedia, the national signal carrier, of “most of the resources go toward the expansion of the infrastructure.”

Muswere said Zimbabwe missed the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) deadline to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting by a decade so the reforms, including licence fees were designed to correct that.

“A decision was made that each and every country should move from analogue to digital. The deadline was in 2015. We are now in 2025, we missed the deadline by a decade,” he said.

Muswere said the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act forms part of a broader national digitalisation and media sustainability strategy, structured around three pillars, which were licensing satellite service providers to expand coverage, making sure international players such as DStv carry at least three ZBC channels and strengthening media sustainability frameworks

“As I indicated, each and every player contributes to BAZ a certain portion of your licence fees. That automatically means you have more resources to support community stations,” said the minister.

“Part of the licensing framework also allows the government and ZMC to be able to conduct human capital development training across all media houses.”

Muswere also added that the Media Practitioners Bill would soon be finalised to distinguish accredited journalists from citizen content creators.

Former Information Deputy Minister ,Kindness Paradza, who attended the meeting, challenged those calling for scrapping the license fees.

“They (the media) are talking about sustainability and want a media fund and ZBC licence fees are going toward the media fund that you will be borrowing from  and want that to be dropped. What nonsense is that? You want money from the media fund…,” Paradza said.

The minister said as a public broadcaster, ZBC is mandated to cover national events that commercial stations avoid.

He added that when he assumed office, ZBC’s compliance rate was below 25 percent, but the new licensing regime had significantly increased revenues.

“I can indicate that millions have gone up at the public broadcaster. The public broadcaster has the responsibility to inform, educate and entertain the nation. But because we liberalised the media sector, we also expanded the licensing framework for other commercial players,” he said.

Muswere highlighted the roll-out of Zim Digital Phase Two, which will expand television coverage beyond the current 38 percent and increase radio signal reach beyond 62 percent.

“Most of those funds will be utilised to support the same ecosystem in terms of Zim Digital,” he said.
“If Transmedia expands in terms of its responsibility as a signal carrier, it also means the entirety of the media sector is expanded.”

He said the convergence of telecoms and broadcasting had improved mobile penetration to over 97 percent and funds from the Universal Services Fund would support further expansion.

Muswere also said the government was establishing 10 provincial content hubs under ZiTESA to boost local content production.

“We also then created a new film industry, which totally collapsed… I am now happy and confident that the public broadcaster now has the resources to support the National Arts Council in order to support our musicians and artists,” he said.