The contract, worth between £60m and £90m for the duration, covers direct marketing activity including reminder letters and licence distribution, as well as digital communications. Direct marketing for TV Licensing's cash payment schemes are contracted to Revenues Management Services.

Print production will be handled by Bristol-based Orchestra Group, which will produce licences for the 25m registered households.

Proximity is the encumbent but won the work through a tender against the likes of Rapp and McCann Adare.

Peter Kirk, head of sales and marketing for TV Licensing at the BBC, said the deal would save the BBC £20m over the term and added that Proximity "demonstrated best practice quality control processes and a high standard of value for the licence payer".

Proximity was at the centre of a controversy when, at the end of 2008, errors were discovered that resulted in more than 6m letters sent out that contained inaccurate statistics over the number of licence fee evaders that had been caught the previous month.

At the time, reports suggested the agency was 'fired' following the revelation, although a spokesperson for the BBC said: "Proximity participated in a procurement process governed by EU regulations, which was open to all and supported by independent evaluators. A fundamental part of Proximity’s contract bid was demonstrating the rigour of quality control processes."