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TELEVISION LICENSING DECREE, 1966
(NLCD 89)
As amended
ARRANGEMENT OF PARAGRAPHS
Paragraph
1. Television Receiving Set
Licence.
2. Dealer's Licence.
3. Sales, etc of Television Sets
to Unlicensed Persons Prohibited.
4. Duration of Licences.
5. Registration of Manufacturers
or Assemblers of Television
Receiving Sets.
6. Dealers and Others to Submit
Returns Relating to Persons to
whom Television Sets are Sold,
Etc.
7. Manufacturers and Assemblers of
Television Sets to Submit Returns.
8. Controller of Customs and
Excise to Send Returns Relating to
Imported Sets.
9. Inspection and Requests for
Information.
10. Penalty.
11. Offences Committed by Bodies
of Persons.
12. Regulation.
13. Interpretation.
14. Commencement.
IN pursuance of the Proclamation
entitled "Proclamation for the
constitution of a National
Liberation Council for the
administration of Ghana and for
other matters connected
therewith", published in Gazette
No. 11 of Monday, 28th February,
1966, this Decree is hereby made:—
Paragraph 1—Television Receiving
Set Licence.
(1) Except in such circumstances
as may be prescribed, no person
shall instal or use any television
receiving set unless there is in
existence in relation to that set
a valid licence granted by the
licensing authority under this
Decree and to be known as a
television receiving set licence.
(2) For the purposes of any
prosecution for the infringement
of the provisions of this
paragraph, where a television
receiving set is found in any
premises occupied by any person,
that person shall, unless he
proves the contrary, be presumed
to use the television receiving
set.
Paragraph 2—Dealer's Licence.
(1) Except in such circumstances
as may be prescribed, no person
shall carry on the business of
selling, hiring or otherwise
disposing of television receiving
sets or of repairing television
receiving sets unless he holds a
valid licence to be known as a
dealers' licence, granted by the
licensing authority in relation to
the respective business.
(2) A dealers' licence may be
granted in respect of all the
businesses referred to in
sub-paragraph (1) of this
paragraph or in respect of the
repair of television receiving
sets only or in respect only of
the other businesses referred to
in that sub-paragraph other than
the repair of television receiving
sets and the business in respect
of which a licence is granted
shall be endorsed on the licence.
(3) Different fees may be
prescribed in respect of different
businesses in relation to which a
dealers' licence is granted.
Paragraph 3—Sales, etc of
Television Sets to Unlicensed
Persons Prohibited.
Except in such circumstances as
may be prescribed, no person shall
sell or hire or otherwise dispose
of a television receiving set to
any person other than to the
holder of a valid television
receiving set licence granted in
relation to that set.
Paragraph 4—Duration of Licences.
All licences granted under this
Decree shall be annual licences
and shall expire on the 31st day
of December in the year in which
they are issued.
Provided that for the purposes of
this paragraph the period
commencing on the 1st day of July,
1966 and ending on the 31st day of
December, 1966 shall be deemed to
be a full year.
Paragraph 5—Registration of
Manufacturers or Assemblers of
Television Receiving Sets.
(1) No person shall commence the
business of manufacturing or
assembling of television receiving
sets unless he has, not less than
one month before he commences the
business given notice in writing
to the licensing authority of his
intention so to commence such
business and of the date on which
such business is to be commenced
and also the name and address of
such business.
(2) Any person who on the date
this Decree is published in the
Gazette carries on the business of
manufacturing or assembling of
television receiving sets shall
within one month after the said
date notify the licensing
authority in writing of the fact
that he carries on such business,
and of the name and address of
such business.
(3) The licensing authority shall
cause to be registered in a book
to be kept by the licensing
authority all particulars supplied
to the licensing authority under
this paragraph.
Paragraph 6—Dealers and Others to
Submit Returns Relating to Persons
to whom Television Sets are Sold,
Etc.
(1) Every person who deals in the
course of business in the sale,
hire or other disposal of
television receiving sets shall,
in respect of each month and not
later than fifteen days after the
end of the month forward to the
licensing authority a return
indicating the names and addresses
of all persons to whom any
television receiving sets have
been sold, let on hire or
otherwise disposed of by him
during that month.
Paragraph 7—Manufacturers and
Assemblers of Television Sets to
Submit Returns.
Without prejudice to any other
obligation imposed on him by or
under this Decree, any person who
carries on the business of
manufacturing or assembling
television receiving sets shall,
in respect of each month and
within fifteen days after the end
of that month, forward to the
licensing authority a return
indicating the number of
television receiving sets
manufactured or assembled by him
during that month.
Paragraph 8—Controller of Customs
and Excise to Send Returns
Relating to Imported Sets.
The Controller of Customs and
Excise shall in respect of each
month forward to the licensing
authority not later than fifteen
days after the end of that month a
return indicating the names and
addresses of all persons who
imported television receiving sets
during that month and the number
of such sets imported by each such
person.
Paragraph 9—Inspection and
Requests for Information.
(1) Any police officer or any
person authorised in writing by
the licensing authority may, at
any reasonable time and upon
production, if requested, in the
case of a person so authorised, of
his authorisation and upon the
production, if requested in the
case of a police officer not being
in uniform, of evidence of his
identity as a police officer,
enter into and inspect any
premises for the purpose of
ensuring due compliance with the
provisions of this Decree or with
any regulations made thereunder
and any such person may similarly
request the production of any
licence granted under this Decree
or evidence thereof and no person
shall obstruct any such person
from carrying out any function
conferred on him by this
paragraph.
(2) The licensing authority may by
writing request from any person
any information reasonably
required by the licensing
authority for ensuring that the
provisions of this Decree or of
any regulations made under this
Decree are complied with and it
shall be the duty of any person so
requested to supply such
information and no such person
shall supply in reply to such a
request any information which he
knows to be false.
Paragraph 10—Penalty.
(1) Any person who contravenes any
provision of this Law or
regulation made thereunder shall
be guilty of an offence and shall
be liable on conviction to a fine
not exceeding one hundred thousand
cedis (¢100,000.00) or to
imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one year; [As
substituted by Television
Licensing (Amendment) Law, 1991 (PNDCL
Law 257) s.1(a)]
(2) For the removal of doubts it
is hereby declared that any
officer of the licensing authority
may be appointed by the
Attorney-General under section 56
of the Criminal Procedure Code,
1960 (Act 30) to be a public
prosecutor in respect of any
offence provided for under this
Decree or under any Regulations
made thereunder.
Paragraph 11—Offences Committed by
Bodies of Persons.
Where any offence under this
Decree or under regulations made
under this Decree is committed by
a body of persons, then:—
(a) in the case of a body
corporate not being a partnership,
every person who at the time of
the commission of the offence was
a director, general manager,
secretary or other similar officer
of the body corporate or was
purporting to act in any such
capacity; and
(b) in the case of a partnership,
every person who at the time of
the commission was a partner of
that partnership or was purporting
to act in any such capacity,
shall be deemed also to be guilty
of that offence unless he proves
that the offence was committed
without his consent or connivance,
and that he exercised all
diligence to prevent the
commission of the offence as he
ought to have exercised having
regard to the nature of his
functions in that capacity and to
all the circumstances.
Paragraph 12—Regulation.
(1) The Secretary responsible for
Information may by legislative
instrument make regulations for
carrying into effect the
provisions of this Decree.[As
substituted by Television
Licensing (Amendment) Law 1991 (PNDCL
257) s. 1(b)]
(2) Without prejudice to the
general effect of sub-paragraph
(1) of this paragraph, regulations
may be made under that
sub-paragraph:—
(a) for prescribing or providing
for anything required or
authorised to be prescribed or
provided for by regulations under
this Decree;
(b) for prescribing the form of
any licence to be issued under
this Decree;
(c) for prescribing the fees to be
charged in respect of the issue of
any such licence;
(d) for prescribing the conditions
to apply to any such licence and
(e) for exempting any person from
any of the provisions of this
Decree.
Paragraph 13—Interpretation.
In this Decree,—
"licensing authority" means the
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation or
any other statutory corporation
appointed by the National
Liberation Council by legislative
instrument and any such
corporation shall have the
functions conferred on the
licensing authority under this
Decree notwithstanding anything in
the enactment under which it
exists; [As amended by Television
Licensing (Amendment) Decree, 1966
(NLCD 100) s.1]
"prescribed" means prescribed by
regulations made under paragraph
12 of this Decree; and
"television receiving set" means
an apparatus constructed solely
for the reception of pictures
(with or without sound)
transmitted by radio.
Paragraph 14—Commencement.
This Decree shall be deemed to
have come into force on the 1st
day of July, 1966.
Provided that no person shall be
deemed to be guilty of an offence
under this Decree in respect of
any act done by him before that
date on which this Decree is
published in the Gazette.
Made this 28th day of September,
1966.
LT.-GEN. J. A. ANKRAH
Chairman of the National
Liberation Council
Date of Gazette Notification: 1st
October, 1966.
amended by
TELEVISION LICENSING (AMENDMENT)
DECREE, 1966 (NLCD 100)1
TELEVISON LICENSING (AMENDMENT)
LAW, 1991 (PNDCL 257)2
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