With World Cup fever kicking in, retailers have been warned to keep up with TV Licensing notifications - or face a red card.
Retailers who sell or rent TVs and don't submit their sales notifications face prosecution and a fine.
A spokeswoman for TV Licensing said: &aquot;With the World Cup imminent, we expect TV retailers to find themselves busier than usual with people buying equipment in time for the first game. However, ­retailers must keep up with their notifications if they want to avoid prosecution and a large fine.&aquot;
In 2003 Asda was fined £3,600 plus £1,350 costs by the Brighton Magistrates' Court for failing to notify TV Licensing about TV equipment sales.
TV Licensing is working with a number of super­market chains and retailers to help ease the notification process. It has helped Tesco to cut 300,000 paper notifications a year by installing a PoS notification system.