From July 1, 2024, many tenants in Germany can have their own TV stay black The reason for this is the change in the law. We’ll tell you if you’re affected too, and what you need to do as soon as possible so you don’t miss your favorite TV shows.
As of today, the extra spending allowances for cable TV have been eliminated
In particular, we are talking about the elimination of the so-called “incidental expenses privilege”. It “affects tenants whose leases contain agreements for telecommunications connections and services (TV, Internet, telephone),” according to the Federal Network Agency.
From 1 July 2024, landlords will no longer be allowed to pay the monthly TV or broadband fee agreed in the tenancy agreement as an additional cost. Homeowners have and often have in the past entered into collective agreements (multi-user agreements) with cable network operators. The payment is made through collective collection, the consumer counseling center explains.
This means that individual tenants or apartment owners pay the cost of cable to the property management company through utility bills. The money is then transferred to the cable network operators. But that’s finally over now.
Who is affected by the new law and what can tenants do?
This means: If you live in a rented apartment and watch cable TV, you may no longer have a signal starting today. Satellite dishes, antenna TV or Streaming:- It does not affect television. If you want to continue watching cable TV, you now need to sign a contract yourself.
But for some tenants, the innovation may be more than welcome. The surcharge allowance has been removed, among other things, because it is no longer considered modern, according to the Consumer Advice Centre; Internet.”
But until now, tenants were barred from switching to alternative transmission methods because cable still had to be paid for through utility bills. If in doubt, you should have paid twice for TV reception. This is now changing with the removal of the additional cost allowance.
