Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: 4 Ob 61/06h
    • Member State: Austria
    • Common Name:4 Ob 61/06h
    • Decision type: Supreme court decision
    • Decision date: 20/04/2006
    • Court: Supreme Court
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff: Schutzverband gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (Association for combatting Unfair Competition)
    • Defendant: Unknown
    • Keywords: price indication
  • Directive Articles
    Price Indication Directive, Article 2, (d)
  • Headnote
    Operators of publicly owned petrol stations may not offer petrol at the acquisition price or at a price which is not economically justifiable. The fact that they employ long-term unemployed personnel does not change this.
  • Facts
    The defendant, a publicly owned road maintenance unit, also operates petrol stations where fuel is sold at acquisition price and long-term unemployed are used in providing this service.
    The defendant argued that it is not subject to the Austrian Trade Act and thus not to the Austrian Price Labelling Act.
  • Legal issue
    The Court explained that the Price Labelling Act, which implements Directive 98/6, includes an authorization of the competent Federal Minister to issue a decree under which specified entrepreneurs have to indicate the price of their services.
    Under the Price Labelling Act, other entrepreneurs that are not specified in this decree but offer the same services as the specified entrepreneurs are also included. Consequently, every entrepreneur that operates a petrol station has to indicate the prices of e.g. diesel, irrespective whether it intends to achieve profits/economic advantages or not. Further, a missing price indication/price labelling is likely to have an influence in favour of the infringing petrol station operator.
  • Decision
  • Related Cases

    No results available

  • Legal Literature

    No results available

  • Result
    The defendant's appeal was dismissed in part.