Promo letter without 12-month option: no violation, court rules
Promo letter advertising only a 24-month deal is perfectly legal
A telecom provider in Germany is not required to mention a 12-month contract option in a promotional letter — even if that letter is advertising a 24-month deal. It is enough if a shorter contract exists somewhere in the company’s product portfolio, for example on its website. Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) ruled this way on May 21, 2026 (Case no. III ZR 220/25, previous instance: Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf, Case no. I-20 UKl 6/24). If you signed up after receiving such a letter and later felt you were never told about a shorter option, this ruling means you likely cannot use that as grounds to challenge your contract.
Good to know for newcomers: In Germany, phone and internet contracts commonly run for 24 months — much longer than what many people from the US or UK are used to. German consumer protection law (Telekommunikationsgesetz, TKG) requires providers to make a 12-month option available, but — as this ruling confirms — they don’t have to push it in front of you. You have to look for it yourself, usually on the provider’s website.
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What happened?
A German consumer protection association sued a telecom provider over a promotional letter sent to existing landline customers. The letter advertised a combined phone and internet package with a 24-month contract — and said nothing about the possibility of signing up for just 12 months. The association argued this violated § 56 of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG), which obliges providers to „offer” consumers a contract with a maximum initial term of 12 months before signing. The provider responded that 12-month tariffs were available on its website the whole time. The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf had already dismissed the case — and the BGH now confirmed that decision.