When I was young an inspector came to the door to see if we had a tv, as we had no licence. A parent said to the inspector that yes, we did, but itβs unused and boxed in a spare room.
They came in and inspected it and put a bag over the power cable and taped it on. Solved.
This was 1980s New Zealand.
A license is only required to transmit. There is no license required to receive (how would that work, anyway?).