BGH Says No to Excessive Road and Access Toll Charges (?)

In its most recent landmark decision of principle, the German Federal Court of Justice held that, in the event of non-payment of the original motorway toll, the increased toll imposed in Hungary by the National Toll Payment Services Plc., as well as the related collection costs, may in principle also be awarded by German courts against vehicle owners.
Liability of the vehicle owner is not unknown to German law, and the punitive-type toll surcharge applied in the event of failure to pay the motorway toll in advance does not, either in substance or — at present — in terms of amount, violate ordre public, i.e. domestic German public policy.

Nevertheless, claims brought by the National Toll Payment Services Plc. for payment of motorway tolls had previously not been enforceable, because due to the applicability of Hungarian law it was necessary to examine — as we have also argued in other proceedings — whether, under Hungarian law, it is acceptable in such cases to assert a claim for payment of the debt in euros.

In our view, such an action is not admissible under Hungarian law either, since the charges arise in Hungarian forints. Such a measure would also be incompatible with European Union law, as a measure of this kind, primarily affecting non-Hungarian nationals, would violate the principle of equal treatment of all citizens of the European Union.
Finally, it is important to emphasise that it remains advisable to defend against claims initiated on the basis of demands issued by the National Toll Payment Services Plc. — regularly through debt collection companies — and we are, of course, pleased to support you with our expertise and remain at your disposal.

The full text of the court decision mentioned above is available via the following link:
https://www.bundesgerichtshof.de/SharedDocs/Termine/DE/Termine/XIIZR7-22.html