Court ruling: Berliner Sparkasse increased fees not permitted

Court ruling: Berliner Sparkasse increased fees not permitted

Berliner Sparkasse has increased fees for current accounts without the express consent of its customers, which is considered inadmissible according to a recent court ruling. This approach could have an impact on other Sparkasse customers who experience similar situations. Consumer advocates and the savings banks have been arguing for some time about whether the fee increases should be reversed without customer consent.

The consumer advice center had sued the Berlin Court of Appeal and argued that Berliner Sparkasse had repeatedly increased fees without obtaining the explicit consent of customers. A concrete example was the unilateral increase in the monthly fee for the 'Comfort checking account' to the 'Giro flat rate' in 2016 by three euros. The savings bank initially refused to refund the overpayments, which led to a class action lawsuit by consumer advocates.

The court ruled in favor of the consumer advocates on key points, but pointed out that claims for repayments before 2018 had already expired. The consumer advocates are now examining an appeal and argue that the limitation period should only begin when the customer becomes aware of the facts. A previous Federal Court ruling in 2021 confirmed that banks must obtain consent from their customers to increase fees.

The ruling could also have an impact on other Sparkasse customers, as similar lawsuits are already underway against Sparkasse Köln/Bonn and the Berlin ruling is awaited. Customers are entitled to a refund if the bank's terms and conditions state that changes will be automatically agreed to if there is no objection within two months. However, many banks have already changed their terms and conditions and customers may have to cancel their account after submitting a refund claim.