German consumer advocates decry inaction on mobile price reduction

DPA
·1 min read
People hold cellular phones. Consumer advocates have accused Germany's Federal Network Agency of taking insufficient action to ensure the right to a price reduction in case of poor mobile phone service. Peter Kneffel/dpa
People hold cellular phones. Consumer advocates have accused Germany's Federal Network Agency of taking insufficient action to ensure the right to a price reduction in case of poor mobile phone service. Peter Kneffel/dpa

Consumer advocates have accused Germany's Federal Network Agency of taking insufficient action to ensure the right to a price reduction in case of poor mobile phone service.

The agency has failed to develop a measurement tool, although it should have done so according to an amendment to the law in 2021, lawyer Felix Flosbach from the consumer advice centre in North-Rhine Westphalia told dpa.

The authority, based just south of Cologne in Bonn, announced that it would make the instrument available in the course of the year. This is the only way consumers can utilize the right.

They can then enforce a price reduction or contract cancellation if their mobile phone network is considerably worse than contractually guaranteed.

For landline networks this is already possible. However, the necessary checks on the reporting site and app are time-consuming.