This was announced at a press conference on Wednesday. At the same time, the upcoming autumn program of consumer protection groups was presented.
In about a year and a half, the retirement pension will come to Kolba, who founded the VSV in the summer of 2018. As soon as the chairmanship is transferred to the Upper Austrian, an exact date was not given when asked, the ex-politician wants to continue to be available as an advisor. According to Kolba, the best therapy for his neurological illness is “to work joyfully and with commitment”.
Corona-Causa Ischgl keeps the club busy
And Kolba is likely to do this intensively in the near future, especially in the (corona) cause Ischgl, as a result of which the VSV is filing a lawsuit against the republic and hoteliers. The Higher Regional Court overturned more than 30 negative judgments, which is why the first courts now have to examine the causality of the damage. Due to the appeal, the Supreme Court will have to review this decision beforehand. Kolba expects that he will submit the case to the ECJ.
As far as the amount of damages is concerned, ten million euros would be “not an unaffordable amount” – “the turnover in Ischgl in a single week”. The hoteliers should strive for a comparison. After a decision on official liability, he also proposed a round table with the Ministry of Health and the Financial Procuratorate about the amount of compensation.
The lawsuits against the Republic and Eurogine iS because of defective contraceptive spirals are also still ongoing. Similar to the Ischgl case, the official liability suit was dismissed with the argument that the Medical Devices Act only protects the general public, not individuals. The VSV, which represents around 1,400 women, appealed against this.
For many consumers who are confronted with rising energy costs, a VSV lawsuit against MAXenergy for terminations during an existing price guarantee is currently of interest. If the decision of the first instance holds, 11,000 customers would have the chance of compensation.
According to Kolba, if the VSV had the right to bring collective action, action would have been taken against the association and Wien-Energie long ago when it came to electricity costs. Kolba developed this right during his work there for the VKI (Association for Consumer Information) and also demands this for the VSV.
Holzinger-Vogtenhuber emphasized that the VSV is 100 percent independent of state influence. One would stand up for all consumers, regardless of their citizenship or origin. In addition, she wants to avert damage to consumers before anything happens.
Source: Nachrichten
