The European Court of Justice ruled on 28 October 2020: German truck toll violates European law (read more). According to the ruling, the Federal Republic of Germany has taken the costs of traffic police into account when calculating the toll, even though this is not permitted under European law.
All payers of the German toll are therefore entitled to a reimbursement from the Federal Republic of Germany of at least the portion of the toll paid until September 2021 that was based on the costs of traffic police. According to current estimates, the reimbursement claim amounts to at least 4% of the toll paid.
eClaim, in cooperation with the law firm Hausfeld Rechtsanwälte LLP, gives you the opportunity to enforce your toll reimbursement claims quickly, easily and without any cost risk.
We will receive a moderate share in the proceeds only in the case of success.
Please note that the registration for the enforcement of claims is closed. The following information is therefore addressed to the companies that are already represented by Hausfeld in the enforcement of claims.
NEW: Model lawsuits filed for reimbursement of unlawful truck tolls
In February 2024, Hausfeld filed three model lawsuits against the Federal Republic of Germany with the Administrative Court of Cologne in order to enforce claims for reimbursement due to unlawfully levied truck tolls. The lawsuits are based on agreements that Hausfeld signed in summer 2023 after intensive negotiations with the responsible Federal Logistics and Mobility Office (Bundesamt für Logistik und Mobilität, "BALM"). Accordingly, the legally binding decisions on the three model lawsuits apply to all companies represented by Hausfeld.
Background of the lawsuits: The ECJ has ruled that the inclusion of traffic police costs in the German truck toll in 2010 and 2011 violated the European infrastructure costs directive and that the toll was illegal in this respect (case C-321/19).
In 2021, the German legislative authority reacted to the ECJ's decision and reduced the toll retroactively with regard to traffic police costs for the period from the decision on 28 October 2020 to 30 September 2021 ("statutory tariff reduction"). This results in a partial toll reimbursement claim, which Hausfeld is enforcing since 2022 and independently of the model lawsuits (further information can be found here).
For the period before the statutory tariff reduction, the legislative authority invokes "protection of legitimate expectations" and has so far refused to reimburse the police costs charged with the toll. From 1 October 2021, new toll rates apply that no longer include traffic police costs.
Hausfeld examined the German truck toll and the underlying road cost appraisals in detail with the support of a renowned economic expert specializing in transport and found that the toll has been calculated unlawfully overall since its introduction on 1 January 2005. In addition, the statutory tariff reduction for the period from 28 October 2020 to 30 September 2021 is too low according to Hausfeld's examination. Finally, Hausfeld believes that interest should be paid on all reimbursement claims.
Against this background, at the end of 2020 Hausfeld already raised comprehensive toll reimbursement claims plus interest against the BALM, which far exceed the traffic police costs. The reimbursement claims amount to about EUR 7.5 billion for the period from January 2017 to the end of September 2021 alone, which corresponds to around 25% of the German toll volume. Even if only the share of the toll based on traffic police costs were to be reimbursed, the reimbursement volume would still be over EUR 330 million.
Within the model lawsuits, the extent to which the plaintiffs and Hausfeld´s other clients are entitled to toll reimbursement and interest claims for the period from 1 January 2005 to 30 September 2021 will be finally decided in court. Experience shows that the legal proceedings will take several years.
Statutory tariff reduction: toll reimbursement far advanced
Since 2022, the BALM pays out toll reimbursements to Hausfeld's clients due to the statutory tariff reduction, which are forwarded to the respective clients within a few working days, less eClaim's share in the proceeds.
Meanwhile, many thousands of clients have already been reimbursed and Hausfeld is in constant contact with the BALM to ensure that the payments to other clients are made as quickly as possible.
Hausfeld has developed a digital process to transmit your processed data and toll statements to the BALM as quickly as possible, which is essential for receiving toll reimbursement due to the tariff reduction.
Please note that due to limited staffing and technical resources, the BALM can only process the calculations and payouts of the toll reimbursement claims successively. Therefore, there will be unavoidable delays.
We will inform you as soon as the BALM has processed your toll reimbursement claims. Please understand that we are currently unable to predict when exactly the BALM will pay out your reimbursement amount.
Delays can be avoided by submitting complete and accurate data and documents. Therefore, we ask you to carefully check your data and requests for information that you have received from us and answer as soon as possible in case you notice discrepancies.
IMPORTANT: Please do not submit your own toll reimbursement application to the BALM based on the tariff reduction under any circumstances. In the past, we have filed comprehensive reimbursement claims to the BALM on behalf of your company for unlawfully levied truck tolls to protect your rights in the best possible way. These claims also include the period of the tariff reduction.
Another application for reimbursement by your company would jeopardize the claim enforcement and would not expedite the payment process.