The Bonus TV has been used by only a fraction of Italian families. Here’s how it works and who can apply for it
Just 16,000 Italian families who have purchased a new TV or a new decoder compatible with second generation digital terrestrial television (DVB-T2) and have taken advantage of the TV Bonus of up to 50 euros that the Ministry of Economic Development has made available since mid-December. To be precise, in December, users bought using the Bonus TV 14,061 televisions and 1,902 decoders.
The data comes directly from Undersecretary for Economic Development Mirella Liuzzi, interviewed by Il Sole 24 Ore. Liuzzi explains that the low initial success of the bonus could be due to the fact that the large electronics distribution chains took a while to make the bonus available, but explains that as of December 31, 2019, only 0.5% of the 151 million euros available had been disbursed. That is, just 791 thousand euros. Liuzzi then made some important clarifications, via a post on her Linkedin profile, on the famous signs at channels 100 and 200 of the current digital terrestrial TV that serve to verify the compatibility of their equipment with the new transmission system, which will be fully operational between 2021 and 2022.
How to ask for the Bonus Tv
The fact that large retailers were not ready on December 18 has certainly affected the provision of the bonus TV. The discount of 50 euros, in fact, must be applied directly during the purchase phase as a deduction from the final sale price of the equipment. The consumer who wants to request the TV Bonus must meet an economic requirement: his ISEE income bracket must not exceed II (amount not exceeding 20,000 euros). Then he has to fill in a self-certification, which he can download from the website of the Ministry of Economic Development, and deliver it to the point of sale together with a copy of his tax code and identity card. Then the seller will transmit the documentation to the Ministry.
The sign to verify the compatibility of the decoder
Since last week, after retuning the decoder or the television, on position 100 (Mux 1 Rai) and on position 200 (Mux Mediaset 4) a sign appears with the writing “720p HEVC Main 10”. If we see this sign our decoder/TV system is compatible with DVB-T2. If we don’t see it, it shouldn’t be. However, Undersecretary Liuzzi clarified that this is not as automatic as it might seem: “At the moment this is a technical definition phase by the operators. It would, therefore, be misleading for citizens to try now to tune the channels and deduce, if not, that their device needs to be changed”. Liuzzi then added that the Ministry of Economic Development will soon provide all the explanations needed to carry out an accurate verification of the compatibility of one’s TV, or decoder, with the new digital terrestrial.