Case C-616/11: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 9 April 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof — Austria) — T-Mobile Austria GmbH v Verein für Konsumenteninformation (Directive 2007/64/EC — Payment services — Article 4.23 — Concept of payment instrument — Ordering transfers through online banking and by paper transfer order — Article 52(3) — Right of the payee to request from the payer charges for the use of a payment instrument — Power of Member States to lay down a general prohibition — Contract between a mobile phone operator and individuals)
Date: 2014-04-09
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: capital transfer, electronic money, intra-EU payment, mobile phone, provision of services








C_2014175EN.01000401.xml










10.6.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 175/4





Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 9 April 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof — Austria) — T-Mobile Austria GmbH v Verein für Konsumenteninformation
(Case C-616/11) (1)

((Directive 2007/64/EC - Payment services - Article 4.23 - Concept of payment instrument - Ordering transfers through online banking and by paper transfer order - Article 52(3) - Right of the payee to request from the payer charges for the use of a payment instrument - Power of Member States to lay down a general prohibition - Contract between a mobile phone operator and individuals))
2014/C 175/04
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Oberster Gerichtshof

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: T-Mobile Austria GmbH

Defendant: Verein für Konsumenteninformation

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Oberster Gerichtshof — Interpretation of Article 4.23 and Article 52(3) of Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 97/7/EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 97/5/EC (OJ 2007 L 319, p. 1) — Scope — Concept of ‘payment instrument’ — Provisions of national law which lay down a general prohibition of the imposition of handling charges in respect of the use of a payment instrument — Contract between a mobile phone operator and an individual — Payment by way of signed cash payment form, by transfer of cash payment form, or by transfer through online banking

Operative part of the judgment







1)


Article 52(3) of Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market amending Directives 97/7/EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 97/5/EC must be interpreted as being applicable to the use of a payment instrument in the course of the contractual relationship between a mobile phone operator, as payee, and that operator’s customer, as payer.










2)


Article 4.23 of Directive 2007/64 must be interpreted as meaning that both the procedure for ordering transfers by means of a transfer order form signed by the payer in person and the procedure for ordering transfers through online banking constitute payment instruments within the meaning of that provision.










3)


Article 52(3) of Directive 2007/64 must be interpreted as meaning that it gives Member States the power to prohibit generally payees from levying charges on the payer for the use of any payment instrument, if the national legislation, as a whole, takes into account the need to encourage competition and the use of efficient payment instruments, which is for the referring court to ascertain.






(1)  OJ C 73, 10.3.2012.