Radio Station Licence aka ICASA

[HansH]

Paid R48 mid November for 2011 licence. Received a statement end December being R12 for 3 month period until end March. Sent a fax informing them of November R48 payment. Have now received a licence valid until 31 March 2011. What gives?
Are they billing quarterly so as to make more work for themselves, or is this only specific to the Durban region or are they just trying to irritate us with even more useless bureaucratic rubbish?

[GeraldNagel]

Same thing here. Found it strange that it was only valid untill 31st March 2011.

[richardfloyd]

Ya had the same.

Here's their story: They don't want to reissue in December each year because of capacity, holidays, etc. So they are shifting the year from March to March. Your account is credited with whatever you pay in and will be offset when new licences issues in March 2011 to March 2012.

Hope this clarifies.

[pilotC]

I'm amazed at how quickly the invoice got to my post box but that I am still awaiting my radio license from last year.

[TerryE]

My first year of renewals - Bought the handheld and into the syndicate last year - some help please as ICASA are not answering phone calls or emails. I have not received any invoices or renewal notices.

I have 2 licenses

1 x Moble handset (PERSONAL, IN MY NAME)- cost was R48 last year - I have paid R48 this year - nothing back yet, but then again didn't get last years license either
1 x Aircraft License (IN NAME OF AIRCRAFT CC) (4 radios 2 x com, 1 x nav 1 x ELT) - so what is the cost on this - 4 x R12, or 1 x R12 or 4 x R48 or 1 x R48 ?

Any direction appreciated - the bureaucrats are all out finding ways to waste my license fees.

[Chris]

My first year of renewals - Bought the handheld and into the syndicate last year - some help please as ICASA are not answering phone calls or emails. I have not received any invoices or renewal notices.

I have 2 licenses

1 x Moble handset (PERSONAL, IN MY NAME)- cost was R48 last year - I have paid R48 this year - nothing back yet, but then again didn't get last years license either
1 x Aircraft License (IN NAME OF AIRCRAFT CC) (4 radios 2 x com, 1 x nav 1 x ELT) - so what is the cost on this - 4 x R12, or 1 x R12 or 4 x R48 or 1 x R48 ?

Any direction appreciated - the bureaucrats are all out finding ways to waste my license fees.

It is a radio station license so 1 license per station. The aircraft is one station so only one fee = R12 till March

[TerryE]

Thanks Chris,

Does anyone have experience with being ramp checked, is the proof of payment (in my case a print out of the EFT) really enough to satisfy The Man ?

[ESTLEC]

Ok so do I have the story right.

They issue 5000 invoices for R12 in December
Then they process 5000 payments of R12,
Then issue 5000 licence valid for 3 months

Then issue another 5000 invoices for R48 in March
Then they process 5000 payments of R48,
Then issue 5000 licence valid for 1 Year.

Only in SA.

[ESTLEC]

I think I would rather issue an invoce for R48 + R12=R56 and then issue a Lcense valid to 31 March 2012.

Or even better issue an invoice for R480.00 and issue a license valid to 2021.

[dilligaf]

I think I would rather issue an invoce for R48 + R12=R56 and then issue a Lcense valid to 31 March 2012.

That would have required someone to perform the act of thinking while at work.

[ESTLEC]

IS THIS NOT WHY THEY ARE PAID ??

[falcoman]

Except that the payment at end March will be R120

[griffio]

I think I would rather issue an invoce for R48 + R12=R56 and then issue a Lcense valid to 31 March 2012.

Or even better issue an invoice for R480.00 and issue a license valid to 2021.

me thinks you will confuse them more cause 48+12=60

[Peter.L.]

To answer some of your queries, let me explain what ICASA are trying to do regarding the licensing, not only of aircraft but all other types of "consumer" licence ("consumer" as opposed to "corporate" licences such as are issued to Vodacom, MTN, SABC, etc.).

For years there have been endless problems, leading to numerous complaints, with correlating, printing and posting invoices for licences conforming to the current ICASA licence year which is from 1st January to 31st December. Invoices have been erroneously produced or reflected erroneous information due mainly to glitches in our database. Postage by third party organisations has been erratic and unreliable and the sheer volume of invoices (+/- 90,000) all to be printed and posted at the same time has in itself presented huge problems, not the least of which is staff leave as everybody wants to be off for Christmas and New Year! Like a house of cards, if one thing goes wrong, the whole edifice falls down and has to be started over, leading to further delays. After examining various proposals, ICASA decided that the best way to alleviate (and ultimately eradicate) these problems was to realign our licence year to conform with the generally accepted business year of 1st April to 31st March, commencing this year 2011. Apart from the fact that far less staff members would be on leave at that time of year, thus spreading the load a bit more evenly and hopefully speeding up the issuing process, accountants and credit clerks at the vast majority of companies would be much happier as licence payments could be better planned for and married to their respective Tax returns.

Obviously to accomplish the change of licensing year presented its own challenges as far as the gap of three months between 01/01/2011 and 31/03/2011 was concerned. Again, various options were assessed, some of which were indicated in other posts above, and the final choice of renewing a licence for three months was adopted. Hence all invoices posted for existing licences will be for the amount of R12.00, assuming that there were no credits carried forward from last year. During March 2011, the process of generating invoices will be repeated for the new licence year period of 01/04/2011 to 31/03/2012 and the invoice will reflect the licence fee for a full 12 month period. Note that ICASA has proposed an increase in licence fees (the last increase was about 17 years ago in 1994!) to R120.00 per annum with the option of paying for a 5 year period which will reflect a discount of R100.00 on the full fee. This amount of R120.00 will represent the base licence fee for the majority of “consumer” licences, be they aeronautical, marine, CB, land-mobile, ski-boat, etc, with some differences dependant on the type of licence. E.g. ski-boat licences are issued per radio not per station, as aircraft station licences are, thus if you have 3 CB radios on your licence, the fee will be R360.00 for a 12 month period. This proposed increase is still subject to debate and has not yet been finally adopted and promulgated. Hence the 3 month gap-period licence, during which time it is hoped to finalise the fee structure. There is a very small chance that the structure will not be adopted this year but held over for 2012, therefore you may find the invoice you receive during March will also be for the amount of R48.00 as at present.

It is more than ever imperative that your postal address as indicated on your licence is correctly recorded in ICASA’s database, otherwise you may not receive any invoice at all, which could present all sorts of problems with all sorts of authorities and may eventually result in the cancellation of your station licence due to non-payment. Likewise, it is equally as important to ensure that your licence is fully up to date with payments as, if there is a debit amount outstanding on your licence account for 2010 or earlier, you will not receive any invoice, neither will a licence document be printed for 2011. Check your licence details personally, don’t leave it up to a third party, and if necessary sort out any address/payment-related problems which may have been overlooked until now. All ICASA offices can assist in this regard, otherwise you are welcome to direct an email to myself or use the forum. Please be aware though that I cannot guarantee to read this forum every day so email may be the primary choice if you have the facility.

Regards to all

Peter H. Leonard
Control Technical Officer
Spectrum Compliance
Durban
Tfn: 031-3349500
Fax: 031-3349518
Email: pleonard@icasa.org.za

[Chris]

Great to have you here Peter - I trust that the communication channel opened by yourself will bear fruits for both sides.