A monthly broadcasting fee of 18,36 € is payable per flat, regardless of how many people live there and regardless of whether and how many broadcasting devices are present.
The fee is also due for rooms in student residences that lead off from a generally accessible corridor (regardless of whether they have their own bathroom or kitchen). If several rooms in the student housing complex are arranged like a flat and you live like in a shared flat, only one person per shared flat has to pay the fee. However, this only applies if the shared flat is separated from the generally accessible hallway or staircase by a flat door and only the residents of the shared flat have a key to it.
Shared flats, non-marital partnerships and families only pay one contribution. BAföG recipients who do not live with their parents can apply for exemption from the obligation to pay the broadcasting fee. Likewise, students with certain disabilities or as recipients of certain state social benefits can apply for exemption or reduction.
According to the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of 19.01.2022 - 1 BvR 1089/18, students whose income does not exceed the minimum subsistence level under social law and who cannot fall back on assets can apply for an exemption as a case of hardship by submitting their proof of income, even without a rejection notice from a social benefit agency (e.g. BAföG office, Jobcenter). Advice on this is available at BeSI.
You can find out more about this here.
