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Created on Tuesday, 09 January 2007 00:00

Last Updated on Friday, 28 December 2012 18:55

Basic Utilities May Not Turn Customers Off

It is not unlikely that your natural gas or electricity provider will want to raise his fees. This often happens at the turn of a year. This article will explore, what you can do against this.

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Generally, service providers may determine their prices as they want – in accordance with §315 BGB within bona fide limits (§138 BGB). So, when the gas price rises, you have the right to respond by not paying what you believe that is not equitable. The civil consequence most likely will be that the provider would like to turn off the supply to you. And, pursuant to §273 BGB, the provider does have the right to retain his supply if he is not paid. Since someone cannot easily switch his provider whenever the bill is increased, you end up in a tight spot. So, what then?

First of all, if you do come to such a situation it is very important to still keep paying so much as would you pay had the price not been raised. If you completely stop paying because the provider is asking for more money, such will definitely give the provider the right to cut off the heat even in the wintertime and you should expect that they will really do it. It is a well-known strategy of the giant energy concerns to bully the low-income elderly and the poor so that they will pay. In the meantime, several test cases are pending at court relating to the fact that hundreds of thousand of people have not only complained against the hikes in the prices but also filed cases in courts.

In the following, you will receive some hints how you can defend yourself if you believe the new price scheme is not equitable. If you defend yourself against the price hike, you may not be confronted with a discontinuance of the service. You can always refer to the court decision of the Bundesgerichtshof (highest court in civil matters). Consider the judgments of July 5, 2005 (re X ZR 60/04 and X ZR 99/04). Most providers know about these decisions, so you should, too.

It is required that the provider has given proper notice that it will interrupt the supply. Just sending a reminder for missing payments is not sufficient. If you read something like “Werden wir die Belieferung / Versorgung mit [Gas/Strom/Wasser, etc.] zum [certain date].” If the date is not missing, and the interruption has not yet taken place, you have to respond – ASAP! Write a letter to your provider, instructing them in writing to promptly withdraw their notice to interrupt service to avoid legal action. You can refer to the court decisions above in your letter.

Why is there such commotion about this subject? The Bavarian state Monopolies Office considers that a utility supply violates antitrust law. Simultaneously, you ought to put the provider on notice that you will prosecute for trespass to prevent that a mere employee – with no actual knowledge of your equitable dispute – comes onto your premises and turns off the utility supply.