Because of the exploding energy prices, consumers are getting support from the courts.
Higher procurement prices of the energy suppliers do not justify price increases with an agreed price guarantee, the Düsseldorf Regional Court decided in a decision published by the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center on Tuesday.
Katja Gelinsky
Business correspondent in Berlin
Follow I follow
With an injunction, the court prohibited the energy discounter Extra Energie from increasing prices for electricity and gas during the price guarantee period.
"This is good news for consumers and a clear signal to the entire industry: price guarantees must not simply be overridden due to rising procurement costs," says Wolfgang Schuldzinski, head of the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia, which took action against the price increase.
The proceedings concerned contracts with a so-called limited price guarantee.
Price changes are then only permitted because of increased taxes, duties or levies.
Consumers generally pay a higher tariff for such price certainty than for a comparable offer without a price guarantee.
Extra Energie had argued that the unscheduled increase was justified because the increase in its own procurement costs represented a "disruption to the business basis" which, under the Civil Code, entitles it to adjust the contract.
The consumer advice center advises those affected to object to the price increase and the change in the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) and to demand further delivery at the prices agreed in the price guarantee.
The consumer advocates provide a sample letter for this purpose.
The court decision is not yet final.
(Resolution of August 26, 2022, Az: 12 O 247/22)