The Berlin Higher Regional Court recently decided that the streaming provider Netflix should not arbitrarily increase its prices. So far, a clause in the terms of use gave the VoD portal the opportunity to Raise price without justification. This should be over now. The judgment is not yet final, so Netflix still take action against it could.
Clause not permitted by court
The clause in the terms of use criticized by consumer advocates reads: “Our offer and prices for the Netflix service may change from time to time.” Any price adjustment would be announced at least 30 days before the entry into force. Netflix argues that it will give customers enough time to cancel the subscription on time.
The previous wording is not sufficient for the Berlin Chamber Court. According to the German Civil Code, price adjustment clauses are only permissible if the authority is made dependent on cost increases. However, the Netflix clause “does not name any factors on which a price adjustment should depend, but places them entirely at the defendant’s discretion.”
The last price adjustment took place in April last year. Here, the “Standard (HD)” subscription was made more expensive by one and the “Premium Ultra HD” package by two euros. Since then, these two options have cost € 11.99 and € 15.99. Only the “Basic” offer remained unaffected by the change and continues to cost 7.99 euros per month.
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