It has been widely reported the BBC told all staff this afternoon (June 10) the free TV licence for the over-75s unless they are proved eligible though means-testing.
The details of how households will be means tested has been confirmed by the BBC to be down to Pension Credit.
It means only 900,000 households will be eligible.
It is estimated up to 3.7million households would lose the free licence fee.
Until 2015 the Government was responsible for maintaining the TV licences of people aged 75 and over.
However, in 2015 - a part of the BBC's Royal Charter renewal - the Conservative Government placed the cost of all these licences with the BBC from 2020.
But no extra funding was provided to the BBC to continue with free licences for the elderly.
The BBC launched a consultation and have apparently considered scrapping free licences completely, halving the concession, raising the age threshold, or means testing them.
The BBC Board said it was the "fairest option to help the poorest pensioners".
BBC chairman David Clementi said it had been a "very difficult decision".
"We think it's fair to those over 75 but also to all our audiences for whom there was no appetite for the level of cuts that would have been necessary if the concession had been extended," he added.
"There are people for whom this will be unwelcome news, who have not paid until now but will do so.
"We know we have a loyal audience over the age of 75 and we think many of them will understand the difficult position we are in."
