Successful settlement of more than half of dispute resolution procedures
Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.02.02
On 1 February the Bundesnetzagentur's postal dispute resolution panel and telecommunications dispute resolution panel published their activity reports for the year 2023.
"The parties reached an agreement in more than half of all admissible dispute resolution procedures, showing that dispute resolution is an important element of consumer protection at the Bundesnetzagentur,"
said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.
The two dispute resolution panels help settle disputes between consumers and companies with the aim of reaching mutual agreement. For years these dispute resolution bodies have been providing an accessible, free and efficient option for extrajudicial dispute resolution.
Postal dispute resolution panel
The number of cases in the field of postal dispute resolution has once again increased. In 2023 a total of 3,574 requests and submissions were received. This is an increase of 12% compared to the previous year (3,180 in 2022), making 2023 the third year in a row in which submissions exceeded the 3,000 mark.
In more than half of the cases the request for dispute resolution was submitted by the senders of postal items, while in just over 42% of all cases the request was made by the recipients.
The clear majority of dispute resolution requests (72%) were related to the conveyance of parcels, while letters, registered mail items or small parcels accounted for the remaining requests.
In 2023 many submissions were due to the loss or theft of the content of the mail item. Requests for dispute resolution were also received because of damaged items, delivery speed and delivery irregularities.
Of all requests, 80% were submitted about Deutsche Post DHL, 12% about Hermes, just under 4% about DPD and 2% about GLS. UPS accounted for 1%. This breakdown also reflects the fact that different postal operators hold different shares of the personal customer market.
Dispute resolution was successful in 56% of all admissible requests.
Over the past few years various changes in the postal sector have led to a clear strengthening of consumer rights. Since 2021 the requirement for postal operators to participate in the dispute resolution procedure has been laid down in law. Details of the postal dispute resolution procedure have been defined in a specific ordinance since 2022.
Telecommunications dispute resolution panel
In 2023 the telecommunications dispute resolution panel received more than 3,000 submissions from customers of telecommunications companies. In 2,310 cases the customers submitted a request to open a dispute resolution procedure. This shows that the level of interest in dispute resolution is almost as high as in 2022, when 2,389 requests were received.
In 1,013 cases the dispute resolution panel managed to reach an amicable agreement. Dispute resolution was successful in 50% of all admissible cases closed. A total of 294 requests were rejected as inadmissible. Most of the rejected requests involved disputes that do not fall within the scope of the dispute resolution panel. In 665 cases the telecommunications companies refused to take part in the procedure. Participation in the telecommunications dispute resolution procedure is voluntary for both parties. In 291 cases the applicants withdrew their requests.
More than a third (39%) of all requests for dispute resolution involved disputes relating to the content and implementation of contracts. Further common sources of dispute included faults (20%), billing issues (13%) and reduced data transmission speed (8%). The requests also concerned disputes related to moving home, provider switching or disconnection.
The 2023 activity reports of the postal and the telecommunications dispute resolution panels as well as further information on dispute resolution have been published at:
www.bundesnetzagentur.de/post-schlichtungsstelle (in German; English translation to follow)
www.bundesnetzagentur.de/tk-schlichtungsstelle-bericht (in German; English translation to follow)