Fees on SEPA transfers for old contracts inadmissible

In a case brought by the VZBV against Vodafone, the Munich Regional Court ruled that the ban on fees for SEPA credit transfers under Section 270a of the German Civil Code (BGB), which came into force on January 13, 2018, also applies to old contracts concluded before this date.
Since January 13, 2018, fees for payment by SEPA credit transfers, SEPA direct debits and credit and debit cards have been prohibited as a result of the EU’s Second Payment Services Directive. See also this article.

Vodafone also implements this, but still requires existing customers to pay EUR 2.00 per transfer. The Regional Court of Munich considers this to be ineffective, since the contractual clause unreasonably disadvantages consumers in accordance with Section 307 II of the German Civil Code (BGB). It therefore ordered Vodafone, unless the customer is not a consumer, to no longer rely on the clause when processing contracts already concluded. However, this is still possible for business customers.

The court concluded this to a teleological reduction of Article 229(45) of the EGBGB, which was designed by the legislature as an overperformance rule for the surcharging prohibition in the EGBGB, and ordered that Section 270a of the German Civil Code be applied to all obligations, created as of 13 January 2018. The standard would be partially contrary to the Second Payment Services Directive, in particular the regulatory objective of Type 114, 115 II UA 1.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.