Only on request: 30 euros for Austrian subscribers to Canal+ and HD Austria

The Vienna Chamber of Labor (AK Wien) has won money for some Austrian consumers: Canal+, a fee-based streaming and television provider, has agreed in a settlement to refrain from applying several contractual clauses. These include the waiver of the activation fee of 29.90 euros charged for some contracts.

This also applies to former customers of Canal+, HD Austria, and AustriaSat. Subscribers who have already paid the fee can apply for a refund. The application can be submitted via the provider's Austrian website and through a sample letter from AK Wien. However, there will be no automatic refund or credit note. According to the agreement, Canal+ will send an information letter to current customers. They only need to provide their full name, e-mail address, and customer or invoice number.

Canal+ will also write to former customers whose contact details the company still has. Former subscribers must also provide a domestic (!) account number and enclose a copy of their ID. If the contract was terminated before 2018, they must also provide proof of payment of the activation fee. In 2024, the Federal Chamber of Labor enforced refunds to Amazon Prime subscribers and Netflix customers, among others.

Canal+ is a brand of the Luxembourg-based M7 Group. It entered the Austrian market in 2010 with the AustriaSat pay TV platform. It mainly provides German-language private channels. M7 soon added a second channel bouquet under the name “HD Austria”. Reception is possible via satellite and certain cable networks. The Canal+ streaming service followed in 2022. Just over a year ago, the services were bundled under the Canal+ brand; the names AustriaSat and HD Austria are no longer used. Incidentally, the agreement with the Vienna Chamber of Labor was only reached after the Chamber filed a lawsuit against Canal+.

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