The legislator has enacted comprehensive amendments to the Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV). As a result of these legislative changes, extensive revisions to your price indications will be required. Below, we outline the most significant changes that will affect you:
Basic Price Indication
A new development is that the obligation to state the unit price is now regulated in the new § 4 of the Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV). This provision has been revised and now clarifies that price indications must be stated "unambiguously, clearly recognizable, and easily legible," but no longer necessarily in immediate proximity to the total price.
Units of Quantity for Basic Price Indication
Pursuant to a new resolution by the Bundesrat, § 5 para. 1 of the PAngV now stipulates that, for enhanced price transparency, "1 kilogram, 1 liter, 1 cubic meter, 1 meter, or 1 square meter" must uniformly be used as the unit of quantity for indicating unit prices. The previous option for deviation for goods whose nominal weight or volume typically did not exceed 250 grams or 250 milliliters has been removed without replacement. For goods typically specified in quantities of 100 liters or more, 50 kilograms or more, or 100 meters or more, the unit of quantity corresponding to general trade practice must be used for the unit price.
This amendment necessitates a complete revision of all price indications for goods that include unit price information based on weight or quantity!
Disclosure of Deposit Amounts
The new regulations also include extensive changes regarding the disclosure of deposit amounts. This issue has repeatedly occupied the courts. The new version of § 7 PAngV now contains a clear regulation under the heading "Refundable Security." Accordingly, the amount of the deposit must be stated alongside the total price and not be included therein.
New Regulations for Price Reductions
The amendments to the Price Indication Ordinance include new regulations concerning price indications for price reductions. The primary aim is to enable consumers to better assess price reductions for goods in the future. Among other things, it seeks to prevent references to previous prices when announcing price reductions if those prices were not genuinely applied beforehand. Thus, from May 2022, every announcement of a price reduction must include the previous price that the retailer applied for a specific period before the reduction. The previous price is defined as the lowest price applied by the retailer within a period of at least 30 days prior to the application of the price reduction (§ 11 PAngV n.F.).
Prices for Ad-Hoc Charging of Electric Vehicles
The new Price Indication Ordinance introduces a new regulation in § 14 para. 2 PAngV n.F. According to this, operators of "publicly accessible charging points" that enable consumers to "ad-hoc charge electric vehicles" must indicate the "energy price per kilowatt-hour" at the respective charging point and provide a "retrieval option for displaying the price on the screen of a mobile device."
When Does the New Price Indication Ordinance Come into Force?
The amended Price Indication Ordinance will come into force on May 28, 2022, in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2019/2161/EU. The currently applicable Price Indication Ordinance will simultaneously cease to be in force.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
The re-enactment of the Price Indication Ordinance urgently necessitates a review and, if applicable, revision of your price indications for all goods. This applies particularly to price information in online shops, as numerous competition law warnings are issued due to violations of the Price Indication Ordinance. These costly warnings are entirely avoidable – We will show you what you need to consider regarding your price indications and help you comply with the strict requirements of the Price Indication Ordinance.
GoldbergUllrich Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB 2021
Christopher Pillat, LL.M. (Intellectual Property Law)
Attorney-at-Law
