ECJ: Three-year deadline for objections to energy price increases is inadmissible

Under EU law, consumers do not have to accept illegal price increases in energy contracts after a certain period of time without objecting. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg issued a ruling against the previous solution of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). According to this, customers must accept price increases in the energy sector, even due to an ineffective clause, if they do not object within three years. The ECJ now said: This is not compatible with EU law.

The BGH developed the so-called three-year solution in view of the sometimes very long-running energy contracts. The idea behind it is that there are major financial risks for utility companies if all price changes during the contract term lose their effect and only the price agreed at the beginning applies. The BGH therefore set a period of three years in the energy sector, beyond which customers cannot claim any money back if they do not complain about ineffective increases in a timely manner.

The background is a case from Berlin

The Chamber Court in Berlin had asked the ECJ. There is a legal dispute going on in which a company is demanding money back from its district heating supplier. The labor rate in her contract had changed annually between 2015 and 2020. The customer complained about this in 2019. The Chamber Court hearing the case considers the underlying clause to be unfair, but noted that the company may not be able to rely on it because of the three-year solution. The German court turned to the ECJ.

The Luxembourg decision does not automatically mean that consumers will get back all of the overpaid amounts. In this specific case, the court in Berlin decides. The ECJ emphasized that a contract must fundamentally remain binding for the parties after unfair terms have been eliminated.

Consumer advice center welcomes decision

“As a consumer advice center, we have been critical of the BGH case law for a long time,” said an expert from the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer advice center. The decision from Luxembourg makes it easier to take action against price increases that are based on ineffective clauses, even if there is no objection. For the managing director of the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry, Kerstin Andreae, the judgment makes it clear “the legal uncertainties that heating network operators are increasingly confronted with”. The legal framework for the contracts needs to be revised.