Federal Constitutional Court - Press office -

Press release no. 27/2012 of 4 May 2012

Order of 4 May 2012 – 1 BvR 367/12 –

Entry into force of the introduction of a statutory obligation to announce
the price in the case of “call-by-call” telephone services postponed


§ 66b.1 of the Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz – TKG) 
in its currently valid version entails an obligation to announce the 
charges incurred prior to the commencement of the telephone call only 
with “premium” services. A violation of this obligation leads to the 
cessation to apply of the right to remuneration (§ 66g No. 1 of the 
Telecommunications Act), and can furthermore be punished as a regulatory 
offence (§ 149.1 No. 13d of the Telecommunications Act). 

The Act Amending Telecommunications Regulations (Gesetz zur Änderung 
telekommunikationsrechtlicher Regelungen), which was adopted by the 
German Bundestag on 9 February 2012 and to which the Bundesrat consented 
on 10 February 2012, expands the obligation to announce the price as 
stipulated by § 66b.1 of the Telecommunications Act to also cover what 
are known in Germany as “call-by-call” services. Providers of 
“call-by-call” services must announce the applicable tariff in future 
before such a call begins. In the event of a change of tariff occurring 
during an ongoing call, the customer must be informed. The new provision 
is to come into force one day after the promulgation of the Act. The 
Federal President certified the Act on 3 May 2012. 

The complainant offers telecommunications services, including 
“call-by-call” services. With its constitutional complaint, which was 
lodged back in February 2012, and its motion for an injunction that was 
lodged at the same time, it is complaining of a violation of its 
fundamental rights to free exercise of a profession, to property and to 
economic freedom to act by virtue of the fact that the obligation to 
announce the price is to come into force without any transitional 
period. It claims that it is unable to implement the prescribed price 
announcements until the anticipated time of entry into force. It claims 
to be unable to comply with the obligation to announce the price prior 
to the commencement of a call until the end of March 2012 at the 
earliest, and not to be able to comply with the obligation with regard 
to a change of tariff until August 2012 at the earliest. 

The complainant’s motion for an injunction is largely successful. The 
First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court ruled by means of an 
injunction that the obligation to announce prices introduced by the 
reform of § 66b.1 of the Telecommunications Act in the case of 
“call-by-call” services does not enter into force prior to 1 August 
2012. The ruling was initially handed down without reasoning given the 
immanent promulgation of the Act. 

The press office will be announcing the essential considerations on 
which the injunction is based in another press release. 


This press release is also available in the original german version.