Pubs urged to check PPL invoices

Licensees could find themselves being overcharged for playing background music in their pub.

Publicans who have failed to notify Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) of the size of their venue face paying the highest tariff for a licence to play music from CD players, cassettes and mini hi-fi systems.

Under the current system licensees are billed according to the size of their premises - but invoices are being sent out based on a default of the highest tariff of 400 sq m.

Shane Feeney, licensee of the Edgar Wallace, in Central London, was nearly caught out but noticed the discrepancy on his invoice and contacted PPL.

Mr Feeney was sent a bill for £482 including VAT based on his premises, but the Edgar Wallace is only around 120 sq m. He was told that 400 sqm was the "default size" for pubs and he would be sent an adjusted bill.

"Luckily I realised that I was being charged for a much bigger venue," he said. "I was told this was the default value, but this could catch a lot of people out."

Peter Leathem, the PPL's director of legal and business affairs, admitted that any pub which had not notified the company of its floor space would be charged at the default rate for a 400sq m venue. "If we'd have set the default at 100sq m then no-one would have bothered letting us know if they are bigger," he said.

"I would urge licensees to check their invoices to confirm they are being charged the correct amount for their size. If not we will be happy to refund them."

The Department of Trade and Industry is currently investigating planned price rises by the PPL which would see some pubs paying 500 per cent more, due to changes in copyright law.