The collection agency for the household fee

SERAFE AG is the Swiss collection agency for the radio and television fee. Serafe will collect the household fee from 1 January 2019. Following a public tender, the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) awarded Serafe the mandate for the period until 31 December 2025 on 10 March 2017. The company began preparatory work on 1 July 2017. 

 

High-performance technology and cost efficiency

Serafe uses the IT solution “Siddhartha”, which was developed by its parent company. This high-performance, cost-efficient platform, which has been tried and tested over many years, is operated autonomously and is ideal for collecting the new device-independent radio and television fee from Swiss households. Serafe can use Siddhartha for invoicing, reminders, debt enforcement and accounting, and to produce statistics. It can benefit from the experience and draw on the support of its parent company in connection with the production and sending of mass correspondence.

 

Data protection

Starting when its mandate begins on 1 January 2019, Serafe will undergo regular information security checks as an ISO 27001-certified company. It must also guarantee data protection by complying with the provisions of the Federal Act on Data Protection. It answers to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner in respect of the lawful administration of the data. Serafe employees receive ongoing training from the company Data Protection Officer and the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

The data required for charging the household fee comes from the register of residents. It is supplied to Serafe by the cantons and councils.