vzbv sues Eon over high district heating prices: Court finds price violations, individual lawsuits necessary
Der Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband klagte gegen Eon wegen hoher Fernwärmepreise. Das Gericht bestätigte Preisverstöße, betonte aber gleichzeitig, dass die Ergebnisse regional unterschiedlich sind. Kunden müssen daher individuelle Klagen einreichen, da keine pauschale Lösung möglich ist.
The Federal Consumer Centre Association (vzbv) has sued Eon over excessively high prices for district heating. During this legal dispute, an important, albeit limited, court decision became public. Specifically, the Hamm Higher Regional Court found that the pricing structure violates the cost orientation principle, which means that the calculation bases have legal deficiencies. However, the court made it clear that the results vary regionally, making a blanket statement impossible. Consequently, customers must assert individual claims to receive a refund. A central point of criticism raised during the proceedings concerned Eon's inconsistent application of pricing formulas. Critics pointed out that Eon applied different formulas in various German federal states, for example, sometimes performing additive and sometimes multiplicative calculations. Regarding further developments, a decision from the court is expected on October 12.