Germany: The German truck toll partly violates EU law. Transport companies can demand reimbursement.
Following the ECJ’s decision on the infringement of German truck tolls against EU law (see earlier article), the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster has now ruled on the complaint of a haulage company from Poland.
The OVG NRW ordered the Federal Republic of Germany to partially refund the toll paid to the applicants. In doing so, it essentially referred to the decision of the ECJ, which had ruled that not only the costs for the traffic police but also infrastructure costs were wrongly taken into account in the calculation of the toll.
The plaintiffs received a refund totalling approximately 8% of the toll paid.
It is not yet known whether, on the basis of the ruling, the Federal Republic of Germany will now voluntarily refund the overpaid toll to other companies that applied for this in large numbers last year.
Companies that did not submit such applications last year can still do so this year. However, some of the claims are likely to have become time-barred in the meantime.
Source: OVG NRW, decision of 30.11.2021 (9 A 118/16)