Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) is increasingly taking action against energy providers and wins a lawsuit against electricity provider EnStroGa AG.

The Berlin district court has prohibited the energy supplier EnStroGa from unilaterally increasing its customers' advance payments during the billing period and without an effective price increase. The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) had sued against drastic increases in monthly deductions by the electricity provider. Consumers who had taken out a tariff with a price guarantee were also affected. In the current crisis, the vzbv is currently taking increased action against questionable provider behavior on the energy market.

“Some companies in the energy market are currently using dubious methods and trying to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers. The current ruling by the Berlin Regional Court is all the more important. Increased procurement costs do not justify a breach of contract by an energy provider. The providers must adhere to price guarantees as well as the agreed rules regarding the amount of advance payments. Companies cannot undermine this legal principle by citing an energy price crisis.”

Kerstin Hoppe, legal officer at vzbv

Advance payments increased dramatically

EnStroGa AG announced a drastic increase in advance payments to its electricity customers by email in October 2021. Instead of 60 euros, a customer should suddenly pay 84 euros a month - an increase of 40 percent. Reason: The old amounts are not sufficient “to ensure the energy purchases required for your metering point.”

Customers who had concluded a contract with a limited price guarantee also received such an email. Price adjustments during the agreed term were therefore only permitted if government-regulated price components such as taxes and duties changed. This does not apply to increased electricity procurement costs.

Higher deductions were illegal

The Berlin regional court agreed with the vzbv's opinion that the increase in advance payments was unlawful. An adjustment of the discounts is generally permitted if the electricity price to be paid increases during the billing period. However, EnStroGa did not adhere to the agreed adjustment mechanism and thus acted in breach of contract.

A mere change in the procurement price does not justify an increase in advance payments. According to its own terms and conditions, the electricity supplier would first have had to effectively increase the electricity price and then adjust the advance payments for the remaining billing period to the higher price. The electricity supplier didn't do that. For customers with a limited price guarantee, an effective price increase would not have been possible due to increased procurement costs. This was contractually excluded by the guarantee.

The vzbv recommends that consumers affected by price increases contact the consumer advice centers. They can evaluate in individual cases whether a price increase is legal.

vzbv is stepping up legal action against energy providers

The vzbv is monitoring the energy market very closely during the current crisis and is increasingly taking legal action against providers. The focus is primarily on unauthorized price adjustments, incorrect increase letters and advance payments. This often involves court clarification of important legal issues.

Due to the energy crisis, the vzbv has already issued as many warnings in the first half of 2022 as in 2021 overall. In the first half of 2022 there were 16 warnings related to the energy industry.

In addition, the vzbv is preparing two model declaratory actions against the energy suppliers primastrom GmbH and voxenergie GmbH. The companies have been increasing their prices massively since October 2021, even though they promised a 24-month price guarantee when the contract was signed. The vzbv wants to have the court determine that the price increases are ineffective.

Source:

vzbv , judgment of the LG Berlin dated September 1st, 2022, Ref. 52 O 117/22 - not legally binding (PDF)
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