The European Court of Justice ruled on 28th of October 2020 that the calculation of the German road tax for heavy vehicles is not in accordance with EU rules. According to EU rules, only costs for infrastructure are allowed to be included in the toll amount, but the German road tax also includes costs for the traffic police.
For a number of years, transport companies have paid too much to drive on German roads. The European Court of Justice has now decided in case C-321/19, that the German toll is in breach of EU rules to the extent that costs to the traffic police are included in the toll rate.
The ruling of the European Court of Justice is a preliminary ruling, which means that it is the European Court of Justice's interpretation of EU rules. Based on this interpretation, the German courts will have to give a final decision in the case in question.
Here is what we suggest you to do:
- Contact your local VIALTIS office and ask them to send you the document package requited from the German lawyers.
- Complete the questionnaire with full details, sign the contract and PoA; send these to your local VIALTIS contact so they are with us no later than the 15th of December 2020.
To find the right information for your MAUT payments in Germany you will have to visit:
- Toll-Collect.de - log in to your account with your password and download the copies
- MyVIALTIS.com - find all the copies from your Telepass SAT devices
We send your details and informations to our lawyer in Germany who will forward it to the BAG in Germany for further actions.
If your application is succesfull you will be refunded the amount directly from the lawyer with the lawyers fees deducted.
Due to the limitation period, the period for possible repayment will be limited to 3 years. Therefore, no claim can be made for payment of toll from before 2017, unless an objection has previously been made. For payments made in 2017, the deadline for claiming a refund expires on 31st of December 2020.
Any further information please do not hesitate to contact your local VIALTIS contact.