Munich Higher Regional Court confirms: Cancellation button at Sky too hidden
The Munich Higher Regional Court ruled that Sky violated legal requirements by placing a cancel button.
It doesn't always have to be pay TV.
(Image: Daniel AJ Sokolov)
Pay-TV provider Sky must make it easier to cancel online. This decision by the Munich Higher Regional Court was obtained by consumer advocates. If Sky violates the requirement, it faces a fine of up to 250,000 euros or up to six months' imprisonment.
Since July 2022, providers of long-term contracts have had to make a termination button available online. It must be easier to terminate contracts for streaming and other services in this way since March 2022. However, some service providers, including Sky Deutschland, are still struggling with the termination link. The NRW consumer advice center has therefore been litigating against the pay-TV broadcaster – since 2023, initially successfully before the Regional Court (LG) Munich I (Ref. 12 O 4127/23). Sky did not want to accept this. However, in its ruling on March 21, the Munich Higher Regional Court (OLG) confirmed the previous decision in large part. Sky must make improvements and pay the consumer advocates 260 euros plus interest.
The stumbling block: The cancel button on Sky's website was hidden behind a button labeled "Show more links" at the bottom of the screen. After clicking on this link, a large number of bold hyperlinks to topics such as "Offers & Packages", "Top Entertainment" and "Live Sport" appeared at the top of the website. Only below these 58 links in total was a button with the words "Cancel" in smaller, gray font, in a line with "Imprint", "Contact", "Privacy & Cookies" and more.
The revocation button will be added in 2026
This design contradicts the requirements of Section 312 of the German Civil Code (BGB), according to which the cancel button must be "directly and easily accessible", says the Higher Regional Court (Ref.: 6 U 4336/23 e). The notice "Show further links" is not sufficient "as it is not immediately clear to the user from this general description what is meant by this". The average consumer would not be able to find the termination button without considerable effort. Unlike the Regional Court, however, the appeal judges considered the termination button to be sufficiently legible, at least after clicking through. The OLG did not allow an appeal.
Sky also required users to log in to cancel their Wow streaming service. Following a complaint by the German Federation of Consumer Organizations (vzbv), Munich Regional Court I ruled at the end of 2023 that it must be possible to terminate online contracts via a cancellation button directly on the provider's website without having to log in or enter a password. Sky has also appealed this decision in the next instance. In future, a revocation button will also be mandatory: from June 2026, contracts concluded online should be able to be revoked with a click within the revocation period. Consumer advocates want to keep a close eye on whether companies are implementing the new requirements correctly.
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