Information;Order — ECLI:EU:C:2022:339
Date: 2022-04-28
Language of the case: Slovak
Court formation: Tenth Chamber
Subject matter: Consumer protection;Approximation of laws
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Slovakia

Anonymised version 
Translation C-638/21 – 1 
Case C-638/21 
Request for a preliminary ruling 
Date lodged:  
19 October 2021 
Referring court:  
Okresný súd Prešov (Slovakia) 
Date of the decision to refer:  
8 September 2021 
Applicant:  
Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska 
Defendant:  
CI 
  
… 
8119214259 
ORDER 
The Okresný súd Prešov (Prešov District Court, Slovakia) … in the action brought 
by Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska, … Bratislava, against CI … for payment of 
EUR 301.49, plus interest, penalties and other fees 
has decided: 
to stay proceedings and refer the following questions to the Court of Justice of the 
European Union for a preliminary ruling, pursuant to Paragraph 162(1)(c) of the 
Civilný sporový poriadok (Code of Civil Procedure; ‘the CCP’): 
EN 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 8. 9. 2021 – CASE C-638/21 
 
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1. Can a legal relationship established and governed solely by rules of 
public law constitute a consumer contract within the meaning of 
Directive [93/13/EEC]? 
2. In a case such as that in the present proceedings, is an entity such as 
the applicant a supplier and the defendant a consumer? 
Grounds 
I. Facts underlying the dispute 
In the application, which was received by the registry of the court on 
12 September 2019, the applicant seeks from the defendant payment of 
EUR 301.49, made up of the principal amount of EUR 284.49, penalty payments 
of EUR 17, and EUR 1.45 in postage costs. 
The applicant notes in the application that it is a body governed by public law 
established pursuant to zákon č. 532/2010 Z.z. o Rozhlase a televízii Slovenska 
(Law No 532/2010 on Slovak radio and television). The standing to bring this 
action arises from Paragraphs 4(1) and 10(5) of zákon č. 340/2012 Z.z. o úhrade 
za služby verejnosti poskytované Rozhlasom a televíziou Slovenska (Law 
No 340/2012 on subscription fees for public services provided by Slovak radio 
and television). The defendant is required by law to pay subscription fees for 
public services under Paragraph 3(a) of the Law, in the amount of EUR 4.64 
pursuant to Paragraph 6(1) thereof, at monthly intervals within the meaning of 
Paragraph 7 thereof. As result of an audit of payments of subscription fees within 
the meaning of Paragraph 8 of the Law, the applicant found that, up until the date 
on which the action was brought before the referring court, the defendant had 
failed to pay those fees within the meaning of the Law for the audited period from 
1 June 2014 to 30 June 2019. Pursuant to Paragraph 10(2) of the Law, the 
applicant sent the defendant, on 6 June 2019, via the Slovak postal service, a 
request for payment of the outstanding subscription fees and the postage costs 
relating to the request. Since the defendant failed to pay the subscription fees and 
postage costs within 30 days of receiving the above request, she is also required to 
pay a penalty payment under Paragraph 10(3) of the Law. The defendant’s debt 
totals EUR 284.49 and is made up of unpaid monthly payments for the audited 
period from 1 June 2014 to 30 June 2019. 
II. Decision of the district court 
The Okresný súd Prešov (District Court, Prešov), as the court of first instance, 
upheld the action and found, on the basis of the provisions cited above, that the 
legal relationship under consideration, which arises not from a contract but 
directly from law, is governed entirely by rules of public law, and leaves the 
applicant no scope to amend it in any way, does not constitute a legal 
relationship with a consumer. 
ROZHLAS A TELEVÍZIA SLOVENSKA 
 
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III. Decision of the regional court 
The Krajský súd v Prešove (Regional Court, Prešov) set aside the judgment of the 
district court and stated as follows. 
If the question of the nature of the relationship were to be answered as succinctly 
as possible, the most elementary argument in support of the consumer nature of 
the matter is that there is a service even in the case of the broadcasting service 
Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska (RTVS), and if the defendant did not use it for trade 
purposes (including professional or occupational purposes), there is merely 
consumption of a service – paragraph 13 of the grounds. 
It is a derived obligation towards a body governed by public law. Even if it is 
accepted that there is no consumer relationship, merely related relationships must 
also be regarded as relevant. In this regard, the law includes within the system of 
consumer law not only disputes arising from consumer contracts but also disputes 
related to a consumer contract (see the word ‘related’ to a consumer contract in 
Paragraph 290 CCP) – paragraph 20 of the grounds. 
In a situation where the court of first instance did not classify the relationship 
between the parties to the dispute as a consumer relationship, and consequently 
did not treat the defendant as a consumer in the proceedings, as a result of the 
failure to inform the consumer within the meaning of Paragraph 292 CCP and to 
examine the merits of the applicant’s claim, there was a serious procedural 
irregularity from the point of view of the protection of consumer rights, resulting 
in the district court adopting an incorrect approach, also with regard to, for 
example, determination of the burden of proof of the parties to the dispute – 
paragraph 27 of the grounds. 
IV. EU law 
Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer 
contracts 
Article 1(2): The contractual terms which reflect mandatory statutory or 
regulatory provisions and the provisions or principles of international 
conventions to which the Member States or the Community are party, particularly 
in the transport area, shall not be subject to the provisions of this Directive. 
Article 2: For the purposes of this Directive: 
… 
(b) ‘consumer’ means any natural person who, in contracts covered by this 
Directive, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business or 
profession; 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 8. 9. 2021 – CASE C-638/21 
 
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(c) ‘seller or supplier’ means any natural or legal person who, in contracts 
covered by this Directive, is acting for purposes relating to his trade, business or 
profession, whether publicly owned or privately owned. 
V. Slovak law 
Občiansky zákonník č. 40/1964 Zb. (Civil Code No 40/1964) 
Paragraph 52 
(1) A consumer contract is any contract concluded between a supplier and a 
consumer, regardless of its legal form. 
(3) A supplier is a person who, at the time of the conclusion and during the 
performance of the consumer contract, is acting in the course of his trade or other 
economic activity. 
(4) A consumer is a natural person who, at the time of the conclusion and 
during the performance of the consumer contract, is not acting in the course of his 
trade or other economic activity. 
Zákon č. 340/2012 Z.z. o úhrade za služby verejnosti poskytované Rozhlasom 
a televíziou Slovenska a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov (Law 
No 340/2012 on subscription fees for public services provided by Slovak radio 
and television and amending a number of laws) 
Paragraph 3(a) The person liable to pay the subscription fee (‘the person liable’) 
is the natural person entered by the electricity supplier in the register of domestic 
electricity consumers as a domestic electricity consumer at the point of 
consumption for use in a flat or a house. 
Zákon č. 532/2010 Z.z. o Rozhlase a televízii Slovenska a o zmene a doplnení 
niektorých zákonov (Law No 532/2010 on Slovak radio and television and 
amending a number of laws) 
Paragraph 2(1) Slovak Radio and Television shall be established as a public, 
national, independent, informational, cultural and educational body providing a 
public service in the field of radio and television programme broadcasting 
(hereinafter referred to as ‘broadcasting’). 
Paragraph 3 
(1) Slovak Radio and Television is a broadcaster whose mission is to provide 
public services in the field of broadcasting. 
(2) The public service in the field of broadcasting shall consist in providing a 
programme service which is universal in terms of its geographical scope, diverse 
in terms of programming, prepared on an editorially independent basis by 
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qualified staff and with a sense of social responsibility, and which raises the 
cultural level of listeners and viewers, provides a forum for contemporary cultural 
and artistic activity, conveys cultural values of other nations, and is financed 
mainly from public funds. 
Civilný sporový poriadok č. 160/2015 Z.z. (Code Civil Procedure 
No 160/2015) 
Paragraph 162(l)(c) – … [staying of proceedings] 
Paragraph 290 A consumer dispute is a dispute between a supplier and a 
consumer arising from a consumer contract or related to a consumer contract. 
VI. Observations of the parties to the dispute 
In its observations on the proposed question to be referred for a preliminary 
ruling, the applicant stated that it is not a supplier and the defendant is not a 
consumer. … 
The defendant did not comment on the proposed question to be referred for a 
preliminary ruling. 
VII. The questions referred 
The Okresný súd Prešov (District Court, Prešov) considers that in the present case 
the applicant is not a supplier, the defendant is not a consumer, and the dispute is 
not a dispute arising from a consumer contract or a dispute related to a consumer 
contract. The subscription fees for the provision of services by the applicant 
constitute a public charge similar to a tax. Neither the existence nor the substance 
of the legal relationship between the applicant and the defendant arises from 
dispositive acts of the parties to the dispute, but rather from a public-law statute 
which also governs the entire legal relationship. Therefore, the present case does 
not concern a dispute arising from a consumer contract and this dispute is in no 
way related to a consumer contract (electricity supply contract). Paragraph 3(a) of 
Law No 340/2012 merely lays down a reference criterion for determining the 
person liable since any other option for identifying and verifying (for example, as 
the owner of a television set) is unrealistic. Therefore, since the directive itself 
states in Article 1(2) that contractual terms which reflect absolutely mandatory 
statutory or regulatory provisions are not to be subject to the provisions of the 
directive, it must be concluded, on the basis of an interpretation a minore ad 
maius (from smaller to bigger), that a legal relationship established and governed 
exclusively by statutory provisions is in no way subject to the directive. 
Accordingly, in order to decide the present case, the district court, having regard 
to the judgment of the court of appeal [Krajský súd v Prešove (Regional Court, 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 8. 9. 2021 – CASE C-638/21 
 
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Prešov)], deemed it necessary to seek an answer to the questions referred to the 
Court of Justice of the European Union. 
1. Can a legal relationship established and governed solely by rules of 
public law constitute a consumer contract within the meaning of 
Directive [93/13/EEC]? 
2. In a case such as that in the present proceedings, is an entity such as 
the applicant a supplier and the defendant a consumer? 
… [notification of legal remedies available; signatures]