February 2022 – Austria – TAIYO Legal

In order to provide financial relief to consumers who had become unemployed or were on short- time work as a result of the pandemic, a statutory deferral of loan installments for consumer credit agreements was passed at the beginning of 2020 (cf. Section 2 2nd COVID-19-Justice Accompanying Act). Nevertheless, some banks continued to charge their customers debit interest even during the deferral period. Subsequently, the Association for Consumer Information (Verein für Konsumenteninformation) filed a lawsuit against this practice. This lawsuit has now been upheld by the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH). According to the ruling, there should be no burden on consumers during the deferral period. The banks now have three months to refund the overpaid interest. (3Ob189/21x)

For more information on the above or in other matters, please contact TAIYO Legal, Dr. Alexander T. Scheuwimmer (a.scheuwimmer@taiyolegal.at).

This article is based on publicly available information and given for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice or as a comprehensive analysis of the matters referred to herein.

TAIYO Legal – Dr. Alexander T. Scheuwimmer Rechtsanwalts GmbH

Rechtsanwaltskanzlei / Law Firm / 法律事務所 / 律师事务所