OGH on Enforcing Smart Meter Installation

Jan 10, 2025 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

Utility network companies are not allowed to threaten to disconnect a customer’s utilities if customers refuse to have a smart meter installed on their property. This was recently decided by the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH).

The case at hand concerned the legal obligation of the defendant, an electricity network company, to replace analogue electricity meters with ‘smart meters’, i.e., a digital metering and billing system. The plaintiff, who has an active supply contract with the defendant, failed to comply with the defendant’s repeated requests to allow the utility provider access to the electricity meters located on the plaintiff’s premises. In a ‘final request for meter replacement’, the defendant then threatened to disconnect the customer’s system from the power grid if the customer continued to refuse installation of a smart meter.

The court of first instance dismissed the application for an injunction prohibiting the defendant from disconnecting electricity supply and threatening to do so. However, the court of appeal granted an interim injunction.

The OGH dismissed the defendant’s appeal in this respect, making it clear that, even under current terms and conditions, the defendant is not entitled to enforce their right to install a smart meter by threatening to disconnect power as a form of self-help, instead of seeking judicial assistance. The OGH stated that disconnection of power would have serious consequences for any household, including some long-term damage.

OGH 3 Ob 191/24w (28 October 2024)