Munich court restricts arbitrary EV charging price differences

A ruling by the Munich I Regional Court (Landgericht München I) has addressed significant price discrepancies in the electric vehicle charging market. The legal dispute involved EWE Go and Digital Charging Solutions (DCS), focusing on the practice of charging third-party providers substantially higher rates than direct customers at the same charging stations.

In the specific case, EWE Go charged its own app users 52 cents per kilowatt-hour for fast charging, while DCS customers were charged 83.7 cents for the same service—a difference of approximately 60 percent. The court ruled that charging infrastructure operators may not arbitrarily financially disadvantage third-party providers. The decision also addressed additional time-based blocking fees.

While the ruling is not yet legally binding, it is viewed as a significant signal for the industry, potentially forcing greater transparency and standardized pricing rules to prevent the current 'price chaos' experienced by EV drivers who use multiple apps and cards.