While there is a law (to be precise: one in each state) mandating to pay this fee it is levied by the broadcasters themselves and the money is at no point touch

While there is a law (to be precise: one in each state) mandating to pay this fee it is levied by the broadcasters themselves and the money is at no point touching accounts controlled by the government. (As a sidenote because it's confusing for people from both sides: In Germany we differentiate between taxes which end up in the general budget and can be used for everything and fees which are purpose-bound from the moment of collection, e.g. in this case the levied money must be used for broadcasting. This differentiation is not common elsewhere.)