RTUK — the Radio and Television Supreme Council, Turkey’s broadcasting regulator — does not work from a fixed penalty schedule. Article 32 of Law No. 6112 ties the fine to the broadcaster’s own turnover: the base is the gross commercial communication revenue for the month preceding the month in which the breach was established. The same breach can cost a national channel a six-figure sum and a small local radio station only the statutory floor.
The base: last month’s gross commercial communication revenue
Three details in that phrase change the arithmetic.
- The month of detection governs, not the month of broadcast. A programme aired in March but identified in June is assessed on May’s revenue.
- It is gross. Agency commission, discounts and costs are not deducted.
- It is commercial communication revenue, not total turnover — revenue from advertising, teleshopping, sponsorship and product placement.
The rate depends on which paragraph you fall under
| Provision breached | Rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Article 8/1 sub-paragraphs (a), (b), (d), (f), (g), (ğ), (h), (n), (ö), (s), (ş), (t) and Article 8/4 | 2% – 5% of gross commercial communication revenue | Art. 32/1 |
| All other sub-paragraphs of Article 8/1, Articles 8/2 and 8/3, and any other duty under the Law | 1% – 3% | Art. 32/2 |
The first band covers the gravest broadcasting principles: the existence and independence of the state and its indivisible integrity (a), incitement to hatred (b), praising terrorism (d), national and moral values and public morals (f), praising crime and criminals (g), exploitation of children and disabled people (ğ), encouraging addictive substances and gambling (h), obscenity (n), competitions and prizes (ö), gender equality (s), encouraging violence (ş), and presenting terrorist acts so as to serve the aims of terrorism (t). The list was widened in 2017 by Decree Laws 680 and 690 and enacted in 2018 by Laws 7072 and 7077.
The statutory floor
Where the percentage produces a small figure, the Law sets a minimum. The administrative fine cannot be less than 1,000 Turkish lira for radio undertakings and 10,000 Turkish lira for television undertakings and on-demand media service providers. These statutory amounts are revalued annually under the general provisions of Law No. 5326 on Misdemeanours; check RTUK’s current announcement for the figure in force.
A worked example
Assume a television undertaking’s breach is established in September. The base is August’s gross commercial communication revenue; say that is TRY 4,000,000.
| Scenario | Rate | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article 8/1-n (obscenity), assessed at the top | 5% | 4,000,000 × 0.05 | TRY 200,000 |
| Same breach, bottom of the band | 2% | 4,000,000 × 0.02 | TRY 80,000 |
| Commercial communication duty breached | 1% | 4,000,000 × 0.01 | TRY 40,000 |
| Same breach at a radio station with TRY 200,000 revenue | 2% | 200,000 × 0.02 = 4,000 | TRY 4,000 (floor cleared) |
What places the rate within the band
Articles 32/1 and 32/2 do not leave the discretion unguided: the rate is set taking into account the gravity of the breach and the medium and coverage area of the broadcast. The medium may be terrestrial, satellite, cable or internet; the coverage area is local, regional or national. A breach on a national terrestrial channel landing at the top of the band is the natural consequence of that criterion.
A fine is not the only sanction
For breaches within Article 32/1, RTUK also applies an administrative measure: broadcasting of the offending programme is suspended up to five times, and in on-demand services the programme is removed from the catalogue. The closing sentence of the paragraph gives explicit flexibility — depending on the nature of the breach, a fine and a measure may be imposed together, or a fine alone, or a measure alone.
Payment and service
Administrative fines under the Law are paid within one month of notification (Art. 32/11). Warnings and sanction decisions are served on the undertaking’s registered electronic mail (KEP) address notified to RTUK; if service to that address is impossible for a compelling reason, notification to the address on file takes its place (Art. 32/10). Letting the KEP address go stale means deadlines run without you noticing.
A criminal investigation does not pause the fine
Article 32/3 is explicit: where the breach also constitutes a criminal offence, the administrative fine or measure is imposed without any requirement that an investigation or prosecution be brought for that offence. The administrative track runs on its own timetable.
Ceilings and the escalation ladder are covered in the maximum penalty guide, programme suspension in the suspension guide, and the appeal route in the appeal guide.