Passenger rights

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As passenger rights , the rights of be passenger in public transport in the transport company called.

definition

Passenger rights can extend in particular to:

  • Liability of the operator in the event of death or injury to users of the means of transport
  • Damage due to failure or delay of the means of transport
  • Damage to objects carried
  • Damage from loss of luggage
  • Consequential damage caused by the delay of a means of transport (train / flight)
  • Damage due to incorrect, incorrect or otherwise defective information about days of traffic, connections or other information necessary for the proper implementation of a trip.

The means of transport can in particular be:

Passenger rights have been discussed in Germany in recent years from the point of view of consumer protection . The question was whether the liability regulations for death and injury and for delays were still up-to-date and appropriate.

Individual passenger rights according to mode of transport

Passenger rights in rail transport

Germany

Voucher from Deutsche Bahn from the registration of passenger rights after a train delay in long-distance traffic, 2013

On October 1, 2004, Deutsche Bahn introduced a so-called customer charter . This provided for long-distance travelers (ICE, IC, EC) to be compensated with 20 percent of the travel price for delays of more than 60 minutes. This also included connection losses between long-distance trains. At the same time, the company undertook to cover hotel and taxi costs of up to 80 euros per traveler if a trip cannot be continued until midnight due to train cancellation, train delay or lost connection.

With the timetable change on December 12, 2004, the European railways introduced a compensation scheme for international traffic. Accordingly, cross-border tickets with a value of at least 50 euros should be reimbursed 20 percent of the ticket value in the event of a delay of more than an hour; Such compensation was provided for in night travel from a delay of two hours.

The EU passed the Passenger Rights Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 for rail transport (Railway Passenger Rights Regulation), which came into force on December 3, 2009 in all EU member states.

On September 26, 2013, the ECJ ruled that the passenger rights from Regulation (EC) 1371/007 also apply in cases of force majeure. Unlike z. B. the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance, just not a corresponding exception.

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Passenger rights form, pages 1 and 2. The train attendant confirmed a delay of ≥ 60 minutes by means of a pincer print

In Germany, the regulation was applied early on July 29, 2009 through the Passenger Rights Regulation Application Act . Compensation can be applied for using a joint form from Deutsche Bahn and the tariff association of private railway companies . It is now 25 percent of the fare for a delay of 60 minutes or more, and 50 percent for a delay of 120 minutes or more. In addition, an arbitration board for public transport (SÖP) was founded in December 2009. The national arbitration board for public transport (SÖP) helps all travelers who complained to their transport company but did not receive a satisfactory answer. The lawyers at söp examine the complaint and draw up an arbitration proposal. This should enable a consensual and extrajudicial settlement of disputes in order to save money, time and trouble for everyone involved. The söp works independently and neutrally and offers its services to all customers of the rail, bus, flight and shipping companies who take part in the arbitration procedure. The processing of the complaint is free of charge for travelers.

According to a media report, the passenger rights service center set up in summer 2009 processed 1.3 million requests for compensation for Deutsche Bahn in 2013 and paid out 40 million euros. This is a record level. The arbitration board had to mediate in 3500 cases. In 2014, the service center also processed 1.3 million claims for compensation for 48 railway companies.

Deutsche Bahn plans to make it possible to assert passenger rights online by 2021 at the latest.

Austria

In Austria, Eisenbahn-Control takes on the task of monitoring passenger rights. In 2013 it processed a total of 772 arbitration proceedings. In contrast to Germany, fare refunds for single tickets are only granted for long-distance transport. If the delay is 60 minutes or more, long-distance passengers are entitled to a 25% refund and if they are 120 minutes or more they are entitled to a 50% refund. A reimbursement of annual local transport tickets arises if a punctuality rate of 95% is not achieved on the relevant route within a month. Depending on the route, trains that are less than 3 to 5 minutes late are considered punctual. These degrees of punctuality must be published online by the transport company. Some transport companies use this procedure for weekly and monthly tickets, while ÖBB Personenverkehr reimburses € 0.75 for every delay of 30 minutes or more. A minimum limit of € 4 applies to all reimbursement claims. In 2015, the Agency for Passenger and Passenger Rights was set up to clarify disputes or complaints arising from the transport of passengers on railways, by motor vehicle, in aviation and shipping with an independent arbitration board and settle them out of court. It serves as the enforcement body according to the relevant Union regulations.

Passenger rights in buses

Regulation (EU) No. 181/2011 on passenger rights in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 has been in force in the EU since March 1, 2013 . (Bus Passenger Rights Regulation). Individual regulations can be suspended by the nation states for another 5 years.

  • On May 16, 2013, the Bundestag approved the Federal Government's draft law of February 8, 2013, which is intended to regulate the implementation of the EU regulation in Germany, in particular the authorization to issue implementing regulations. The Federal Railway Authority is designated as the national enforcement body for passenger rights in bus and coach traffic .

In the case of the various claims, the Bus Passenger Rights Regulation decides, in part, according to whether the journey is started from a bus station (Art. 3 lit m) or a bus stop (lit n), which in the light of the case law of the European Court of Justice on passenger rights causes problems the principle of equal treatment.

The European passenger rights in bus transport mainly relate to long-distance journeys of more than 250 km. If the departure is 120 minutes late or a connection fails, the bus company must offer a fare reimbursement or further transportation. If this is not done, the passenger is entitled to compensation in the amount of 50% of the fare. In the event of a 90-minute delay in departure or failure of a connection from a bus station with a journey time of more than 3 hours, the bus company must provide food and, if necessary, a hotel room for up to 2 nights. The bus company must inform passengers about delays as soon as possible, but no later than 30 minutes after the scheduled departure. There are no rules regarding late arrivals .

An exception to this rule are the IC buses of Deutsche Bahn , where the passenger rights for rail transport are also used for the benefit of the customer.

In April 2014, the NRW consumer advice center warned nine long-distance bus operators that they were restricting the passenger rights regulation in their general terms and conditions. Five then changed their terms and conditions. Negotiations were held with the other four.

Passenger rights on airplanes

see main article passenger rights

Passenger rights in sea and inland waterway transport

By Regulation (EU) no. 1177/2010 of 24 November 2010 on the rights of passengers traveling by sea and inland waterway transport are passengers' rights for passengers on ships from the EU, or vessels that transit through EU waters, committed. This ordinance came into force on December 18, 2012.

In a broader sense, Regulation (EC) No. 392/2009 of April 23, 2009 on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea (Liability Regulation) can be counted among the passenger rights. This regulation came into effect across the EU on December 31, 2012.

  • Germany: By now adopted in February 2013 amended Law on maritime law u. a. also the carriage of passengers on seagoing vessels including the liability of the carrier in the event of death or injury to passengers and / or loss or damage to luggage in Sections 536–552 of the Commercial Code (HGB). For passenger transport on inland waterway vessels, Section 77 of the Inland Navigation Act (BinSchG) refers to these provisions of the HGB. The law came into force on April 25, 2013.

See also

literature

  • Ansgar Staudinger / Stephan Keiler (eds.): Fluggastrechte -ordnung Handkommentar , 2016, publishers: Nomos, Helbing & Lichtenhahn and facultas, ISBN 978-3-8329-7775-7 .
  • Stephan Keiler: Claims of passengers in bus and coach transport in the event of delay and cancellation in the concept of European passenger rights, in Binder / Eichel (ed.), International Dimensions of Commercial Law 167-185 (Nomos 2013, ISBN 978-3-8329-7837-2 ).
  • Jens Karsten / Christian Schuster-Wolf: Developments in EU Passenger Law 2011–2012 - Part I , Consumers and Law (VuR) 2012, 463 (PDF file) [3] (PDF; 229 kB); ... - Part II , VuR 2013, 6.
  • Thomas Hilpert: Passenger rights and obligations of public transport regular services according to the PBefG . Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-18-2 .
  • Henrik Lindemann: New Passenger Rights in Rail Traffic, transpress 2011, 10.
  • Adolf Rebler: Principles of liability in the event of accidents involving passengers in buses and trams in regular service , monthly for German law 2011, 457.
  • Hans-Georg Bollweg: Passenger rights in land and air transport . In: German Traffic Court Day (Ed.): Proceedings for the 48th German Traffic Court Day. Luchterhand, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-472-07849-4 , p. 59 ff.
  • Hans-Georg Bollweg: The customer rights of air, rail and bus traffic in comparison . Current travel law (RRa) 2010, 106.
  • Ernst Führich: Travel law. Handbook of travel contract, travel agency, travel insurance and individual travel law. 6th edition. CH Beck, 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60413-3 .
  • Haak: Liability in passenger transport - Legal developments in the field of international passenger transport , Transportrecht (transpr) 2009, 162.
  • Raphael v. Heereman: Presentation on the German Traffic Court Conference on Regulation EC No. 261/2004… In: German Traffic Court Conference (Hrsg.): Proceedings for the 48th German Traffic Court Conference . Luchterhand, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-472-07849-4 , p. 69 ff.
  • Henrik Lindemann: Passenger rights in rail traffic . In: German Traffic Court Day (Ed.): Proceedings for the 48th German Traffic Court Day . Luchterhand, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-472-07849-4 , p. 77 ff.
  • Silvia Schattenkirchner: Passenger rights in land and air transport . In: German Traffic Court Day (Ed.): Proceedings for the 48th German Traffic Court Day . Luchterhand, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-472-07849-4 , p. 92 ff.
  • Ronald Schmid / Holger Hopperdietzel: Passenger Rights - A Snapshot , NJW 2010, 1905.
  • Martin Schiefelbusch, Uwe Böhme, Nancy Neugebauer, Michael Pohar: Consumer protection in public transport . In: Martin Schiefelbusch, Hans-Liudger Dienel (Ed.), Customer Interests in Public Transport. Consumer protection and consumer participation. Erich-Schmidt-Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-503-11009-4 , pp. 39-124. (Series of publications for traffic and technology).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Report DB customer charter . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 3/2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 100.
  2. ↑ Report Europe-wide compensation scheme for delayed trains . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 2/2005, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 78.
  3. ↑ European Court of Justice (ed.): "Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 - Rights and obligations of rail passengers - Art. 17 - Fare compensation in the event of delays - Exclusion in cases of force majeure - Admissibility - Art. 30 Para . 1 - Powers of the national body designated to enforce this Regulation - Possibility to require a rail transport company to change its conditions for passenger compensation ” . Judgment of September 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ Compensation for delay . on: Spiegel Online . July 15, 2009.
  5. ↑ Bahn has to pay for late trains . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . No. 154 , July 7, 2014, ISSN  0174-4909 , p. 21 (similar version among other titles online ).
  6. ↑ Exemplary data protection for passenger rights . In: DB World . No. 5 , 2015, p. 21 .
  7. ↑ Stefan Schirmer, Claas Tatje: "We fight for every minute every day" . In: The time . No. 44 , October 24, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 , p. 23 ( online ).
  8. ↑ Rail Control: Passenger Report 2013 ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 25, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schienencontrol.gv.at
  9. ↑ Rail Control: Passenger Rights Folder ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 25, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schienencontrol.gv.at
  10. ↑ Federal Law on the Agency for Passenger and Passenger Rights , Art. 1 Federal Law Gazette I No. 61/2015
  11. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 16, 2011 on passenger rights in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 (text with EEA relevance) (published in OJ EU L 55 of February 28, 2011).
  12. ↑ Information on the EU website : Passenger rights in bus and coach transport .
  13. ↑ to the history:
  14. ↑ Draft law of the federal government on the law implementing Regulation (EU) No. 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 16, 2011 on passenger rights in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 ( Federal Council - Printed matter. 108/13). Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 365 kB). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesrat.de
  15. ↑ Overview of the items on the agenda for the meeting on May 16, 2013 on the Bundestag website . [1] .
  16. ↑ See Keiler , Claims of passengers in bus and coach traffic in the event of delay and cancellation in the concept of European passenger rights, in Binder / Eichel (ed.), Internationale Dimimen des Wirtschaftsrechts (2013) 167-185 ( Memento des original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / tourismusrecht.eu
  17. ↑ Federal Railway Authority : Scope of Regulation No. 181/2011 ( Memento of the original of March 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 30, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eba.bund.de
  18. ↑ Federal Railway Authority : Content of Regulation No. 181/2011 ( Memento of the original from June 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 30, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eba.bund.de
  19. ↑ On tour by long-distance bus: leisurely, inexpensive and regulated by law. Consumer Advice Center , June 20, 2017, accessed on September 11, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Bus travelers also get more rights. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , February 15, 2011, accessed on September 11, 2017 .
  21. ^ Deutsche Bahn (Ed.): FAQ Passenger Rights , accessed on July 20, 2014
  22. ↑ German Association of the Blind and Sea Disabled: “Touristik-Info No. 19/2013 IC buses of the Deutsche Bahn” ( memento of the original from August 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 20, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dbsv.org
  23. ↑ Spiegel.de: "Inadmissible contractual clauses: consumer advocates warn long-distance bus operators" , 17. April 2014, accessed June 30, 2014.
  24. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 24, 2010 on passenger rights in sea and inland waterway transport and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004.
  25. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 392/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 23, 2009 on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea (Liability Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) .
  26. ↑ In the case of the accident on the cruise ship Costa Concordia in January 2012, the ordinance was therefore not yet effective. Cf. also: Duygu Damar: The "Costa Concordia" ran aground on the rocks - also the right to limitation of liability? In: Consumer and Law (VuR) 2012, 287 [2] (PDF; 209 kB).
  27. ↑ Press release of the Federal Ministry of Justice of February 4, 2013: Federal Council approves reform of maritime trade law, including an overview of the changes in content. Page no longer available , search in web archives:@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.bmj.de
  28. ↑ Law on the Reform of Maritime Trade Law of April 20, 2013 ( BGBl. I p. 831 )