Television in rented apartments - Service charge privilege no longer applies: What this means for cable TV connections
If you live in an apartment building, you often receive your cable TV via a house connection. Owners are allowed to charge their tenants for this via the ancillary costs - even if they do not watch television at all. This is regulated by section 2 no. 15 of the Operating Costs Ordinance, BetrKV for short. The property management company forwards the money for the connection to the cable network operator. The apportionment via the utility bill is known as the service charge privilege. This regulation expires on June 30, 2024. The abolition is part of the Telecommunications Modernization Act (TKMoG), which came into force on 1 December 2021. Until now, a transitional period has applied.
For tenants who do not use a television, the service charge bill will be slightly cheaper from July 1, 2024 due to the absence of this item. You should check the statement for 2024 to ensure that the adjustment has actually been made. The legal change has the advantage for tenants that they no longer have to pay twice in case of doubt - for example, if they do not use the cable connection at all but receive television via the internet. In future, they will also be able to decide for themselves with which provider and on what terms they agree a television contract.
Network operators are warning of the higher prices that the end of the ancillary cost privilege will allegedly entail. According to the consumer advice center, however, the additional costs of individual contracts will remain within reasonable limits. In their experience, the corresponding individual contract for terminated multi-user contracts costs around 8 to 10 euros per month. This corresponds to a maximum increase of 3 euros per month. In the medium term, prices are likely to fall anyway due to increased competition among providers.
Beware of "media consultants"
Beware of self-proclaimed "media consultants" who suddenly appear at your door and warn you that your connection will be switched off and the screen will remain dark. You should not let them into your home, as alleged checks of the cable connection are usually used as a pretext to talk you into new contracts.
Apartment owners should also keep an eye on the deadline of June 30, 2024. The community of owners has a special right of termination vis-à-vis their cable provider in the course of the change. However, if they do not exercise this right, the contract for the house connection will continue to run and must continue to be paid for by the owners. If the building community does not take care of this, tenants could soon be watching TV at the owners' expense. This is because in future it will no longer be possible to apportion costs.
Incidentally, the service charge privilege also covers collective contracts for internet and telephone connections. However, they hardly play a role in the contractual relationship between tenants and landlords, as they have become very rare.
This article first appeared on www.capital.de
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The abolition of the service charge privilege for cable television connections on July 1, 2024, means that tenants who do not use a television will no longer have to pay for incidental costs associated with cable network operators. It's important for tenants to check their statements in 2024 to ensure the adjustment has been made correctly, as they will no longer be required to pay for television services they do not consume.
Currently, the service charge privilege also covers collective contracts for internet and telephone connections. However, due to their rarity in the tenant-landlord relationship, they rarely play a significant role in these agreements.
Source: www.stern.de
