BBC ends universal free licences for over 75s DetailsEditor | 10 June 2019 In a move likely to cause uproar among those affected, the BBC has revealed that the current scheme offering free TV licences for all those in the UK aged over 75s will come to an end in 2020.Since 2000, all UK households with people over 75 have been entitled to a free TV licence. Up until 2015 the scheme had been paid for by the state, but at that time the then David Cameron-led UK government decided to pass on this burden to the BBC and through an Act of Parliament, the Government gave the BBC the power to decide what would happen next.In a statement explaining scheme why offering free TV licences for all of those over 75s will come to an end after June 2020, BBC Director General Tony Hall noted that after June 2020, the cost of continuing with free licences for all over 75s would be £745 million a year and rising, around a fifth of the BBC