- The Administrative Court of Germany declines to repay costs to consumers
Consumer organizations can't just file lawsuits to reclaim financially unjustly kept sums for impacted consumers, as per the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe. The court stated that such a lawsuit goes against the principles of collective legal defense under present law (Az. I ZR 168/23). In the given circumstance, the German Consumer Federation (vzbv) had filed a lawsuit against the event organizer, alleging they had unfairly charged a fee.
Attendees at the festival were able to purchase wristbands and add credit to them. Any unspent balance could later be refunded through an event platform, but a 2.50 Euro fee was deducted.
Consumer advocates argued this was unlawful and pursued legal action against the organizer. The Higher Regional Court in Rostock ultimately ruled that the refund fee included in the general terms and conditions was invalid, yet consumer advocates couldn't obtain refunds for attendees.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) agreed with this decision. The consumer organization had a claim for an injunction, not a refund. Germany's legislature introduced an "enforcement claim" in 2023, empowering eligible consumer associations to assert performance claims against businesses on behalf of consumers. Nonetheless, allowing consumer associations to enforce a strict liability refund claim could potentially force businesses to return money unlawfully withheld from numerous consumers, potentially disrupting the idea of collective legal protection.
The Federal Court of Justice, in its ruling, affirmed the Higher Regional Court's decision, stating that the consumer organization had a claim for an injunction, not a refund. Despite the introduction of an "enforcement claim" in 2023, The Court of Justice emphasized that allowing consumer associations to enforce a strict liability refund claim could compromise the principles of collective legal defense.
