Cash on delivery

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Cash on delivery for 12.50 DM within Germany from 1969

Cash on delivery ( French remboursement ; English cash / collect on delivery , abbreviation: COD) is a payment condition and postage , in which the purchase price of goods is paid to the executing carrier upon delivery to the recipient of the mail .

General

Cash on delivery items are often used by mail order providers as an additional payment system in addition to prepayment , credit card or invoice . Cash on delivery has the advantage for the recipient that payment only has to be made when the postal package or letter is handed over . The sender has the advantage over paying on account that the money is securely received after delivery . This type of shipping is usually more expensive than payment in advance or on account because of the additional service .

Those involved in cash on delivery are the sender ( seller / exporter ), the carrier ( postal or logistics company ) and the recipient of the mail (buyer / importer ). Although the sender and recipient have agreed the terms of payment for cash on delivery, only the carrier and buyer / importer are involved in paying the purchase price. For this purpose, the seller / exporter instructs the carrier ( receiving forwarder ) to collect the cash on delivery amount step by step against delivery of the freight from the buyer / importer and to forward it to the seller / exporter.

history

The cash on delivery system developed from the mail advance shipment . The German-Austrian Postal Union Treaty, which came into force on July 1, 1850, already spoke of cash on delivery in Article 63. The maximum amount was 70 thalers, 75 guilders or 87½ guilders in Rhenish currency. A return receipt had to be enclosed with the shipment . The return was free of charge. The cash on delivery amount was only allowed to be paid out when the return receipt was returned with the confirmation of acceptance and payment. It was not necessary to pay the fee in advance. In addition to the fee for the shipment, 1 silver groschen (Sgr.) / 3 Kreuzer (Kr.) For the post office and each thaler or part of a thaler ½ Sgr. / per guilder 1 kr., to be levied. Cash on delivery letters were subject to the lowest driving post tax. Not much has changed in club traffic. The shipping conditions in the internal traffic of the individual postal states did not in any way agree with the association's provisions.

Even in the early days of the Reichspost, in 1871, the post advance payment was kept. But there was also the post mandate and mail order system . It would have made sense to use the cash on delivery method. In addition to the advances, other invoice items, the expenses , were also collected. Expenses were understood to mean the postage for returned mail items, deficit invoices, insufficient charges for international items, etc. which were also treated as advance mail. Then there were the many embezzlements. After the introduction of the mark currency on January 1, 1875, it took another three years until October 1, 1878, when the cash on delivery method was finally introduced in Bavaria and Württemberg. The legal term cash on delivery emerged in October 1878 in the postal system through the final conversion of the postal advance shipment to the cash on delivery procedure. The Vienna Postal Congress decided in July 1891 to introduce cash on delivery in the Universal Postal Union from July 1892 . A payment of advances on posting no longer took place. The delivery of a cash on delivery was certified by a delivery slip or postal delivery book . Cash on delivery items received a red sticky note with the imprint "No .. ... Cash on delivery. ..... M .. ......... Pf. ". The collected amount was sent with a cash on delivery money order.

Cash on delivery dates back to before 1878 in Bavaria and Württemberg

Postage and a cash on delivery fee must be paid for forwarded post. 1) The postage is: - a) for cash on delivery letters (postcards, printed matter and samples) up to a weight of 250 grams, as well as postcards for distances of up to 10 geographical miles including = 20 Pfg. - for all further distances = 40 Pfg .. - A postage surcharge of 10 pfennigs is levied for unstamped cash on delivery letters. This surcharge does not apply to "postage-payable official items". - b) for cash on delivery packages as much as for packages without cash on delivery. - If the value has been stated or registered, the postage is subject to the insurance re. Registration fee added. - 2) The cash on delivery fee for each mark or each part of a mark is 2 pfennigs, but at least 10 pfennigs. If necessary, a fraction of a mark resulting from the calculation of the cash on delivery fee is rounded up to a sum divisible by 5 pfennigs.

Not much has changed in the process to this day. Since 1890 a presentation fee has been charged instead of the cash on delivery fee. In 1910 it was possible to transfer money to a postal check account. Also in 1910 special forms for cash on delivery cards and cash on delivery parcel cards were introduced. Since 1924, all COD letters had to be franked upon delivery. The sender could cancel or change cash on delivery afterwards. In 1927 triangular stamps were introduced to indicate the day of the second presentation. In 1954, the subsequent debiting of a consignment with cash on delivery was introduced ( not permitted in the GDR , East Berlin and abroad). In this case, the presentation fee for cash on delivery and the fee for a simple registered letter or telegram are added. In 1976, according to the Deutsche Bundespost, there were around 73 million cash on delivery items.

procedure

SEPA collection slip for cash on delivery from Deutsche Post AG

When posting the parcel or letter, the sender determines the amount that the recipient has to pay on receipt of the shipment as cash on delivery. Payment is made either with direct delivery to the deliverer or, if the recipient was not at home at the time of delivery, when shipping with Deutsche Post in a post office or, if necessary, at a packing station . In this case, a written notification with a time-limited collection request will be left in the mailbox. When a parcel is addressed to a Packstation, payment is made cashless by EC or cash card at the Packstation.

The logistics company forwards the collected money, after deduction of the transmission fee, to the sender's postal or bank account. This transfer process can take different lengths of time (usually ten to fourteen working days) depending on the parcel service. For the submission process are collecting evidence used.

providers

The following postal companies offer cash on delivery in German-speaking countries:

Sales tax liability

Until June 30, 2010, cash on delivery items from Deutsche Post AG were exempt from sales tax, while comparable services from competitors were subject to sales tax. Since July 1, 2010, cash on delivery items from Swiss Post are also subject to VAT.

Legal issues

In international trade, there may be difficulties in interpreting the "payment against cash on delivery" (abbreviation: COD), because this can be understood as both a document collection ( English cash on documents ) and a "payment against cash on delivery". According to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the abbreviation “COD” is used for the payment clause “cash on delivery” in international trade, while the clause “Cash against documents” ( English cash against documents , abbreviations: CAD or D / P) is used for document collection ) is common. The abbreviation "COD" is therefore to be interpreted as cash on delivery.

In the freight business , the freight forwarder can be obliged to collect the purchase price from the recipient for the account of the sender by means of the freight contract ( Section 408, Paragraph 1, No. 10 of the German Commercial Code ) or by subsequent instructions that must be given prior to delivery of the freight . If a consignment note ( rail , CMR consignment , air or sea consignment note ) has been issued, it must contain instructions on cash on delivery. In this way, in particular, purchase prices (“cash on delivery”) and shipping costs (“ cash on delivery ”) are collected. In order to enforce cash on delivery, the carrier has a statutory right of lien in accordance with Art. 13 Para. 2 CMR or Section 440 HGB.

According to § 422 HGB, it is to be assumed that the invoice amount is to be collected in cash or in the form of an equivalent means of payment if the contracting parties have agreed that the freight may only be delivered to the recipient against collection of cash on delivery. The "equivalent means of payment" must not involve any payment risk for the seller, so that only electronic means of payment such as the girocard are permitted. In Section 422 (2) of the German Commercial Code (HGB), the irrefutable presumption is made that the money obtained on the basis of the collection is deemed to have been transferred to the sender in relation to the carrier's creditors.

The "delivery against cash on delivery" establishes an advance performance obligation of the buyer insofar as he has to pay when the goods are handed over without being able to examine them beforehand. This means that the buyer is exposed to the same risk as with prepayment or prepayment . The payment that the recipient makes to the receiving freight forwarder to release the freight (cash on delivery) releases the recipient from his payment obligation to the sender.

The carrier is liable for delivery of the freight without collection of cash on delivery even if he is not at fault (Section 422, Paragraph 3 of the German Commercial Code). If the cash on delivery is paid, the credit of the purchase price acts like an unloading confirmation for the seller .

International postal conditions

Germany

In Germany, for example, the recipient only receives the DHL package after the specified cash on delivery amount has been paid. The amount collected will be transferred to the account specified by the sender using a collection slip. A maximum amount of EUR 3,500 may be collected from the deliverer, only cash payments are possible. Cash on delivery items can also be picked up at packing stations without personal contact, whereby the cash on delivery amount must be paid cashlessly. UPS sends cash on delivery for cash payments up to a maximum amount of USD 5,000 in the respective local currency.

Austria

In Austria, the maximum cash on delivery amount is also EUR 3,500. The Austrian Post requires recipients of COD shipments, the date and place of birth and refers back to Art. 4 of EC Regulation 1781/2006 of 15 November 2006.

Switzerland

Since January 2015, Swiss Post has been offering "paperless cash on delivery" and limits the cash on delivery amount to CHF 10,000.

Other states

The convention on international rail traffic provides for cash on delivery in the Uniform Rules for Rail Freight Contracts (CIM) in Art. 17, whereby the currency is based on that of the country of dispatch.

Web links

Commons : Cash on delivery  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Cash on delivery  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ French is the official language of the Universal Postal Union .
  2. ^ Collection of laws for the Kingdom of Saxony , 1852, p. 234
  3. ↑ Uwe Spiekermann, Basis der Konsumgesellschaft , Volume 3, 1999, p. 298
  4. ^ Postal regulations of October 1, 1878
  5. ↑ Information on sales tax ( Memento of the original dated August 6, 2010 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. German Post AG @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.deutschepost.de
  6. ^ BGH, judgment of September 19, 1984, Az .: VII ZR 103/83 = WM 1984, 1572
  7. ↑ Johann Georg Helm, in: Claus-Wilhelm Canaris / Peter Ulmer (eds.), Großkommentar HGB , 2004, p. 51
  8. ↑ BT-Drs. 13/10014 of March 4, 1998, draft of a law for the revision of freight, forwarding and storage law , p. 48
  9. ^ BGH, judgment of September 19, 1984, Az .: VII ZR 103/83 = WM 1984, 1572
  10. ^ Deutscher Zentralverlag (ed.), Neue Justiz , Volume 5, 1951, p. 140
  11. ↑ Andreas Schlüter, in: Norbert Horn (Hrsg.), Handelsgesetzbuch , Volume 4, 2005, § 422 Rn. 7th
  12. ↑ Malcolm A. Clarke / David Yates, Contracts of Carriage by Land and Air , 2008, p. 142