TKG § 58 Compensation Calculator: Internet Outage
Calculate your legal compensation under § 58 of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG) for internet, landline and mobile outages across German.
Statutory Rule under Section 58 (3) TKG
German law grants internet providers a statutory repair period of 2 full calendar days. Starting on calendar day 3 of an ongoing outage, you are entitled to statutory compensation: 5 € or 10% of monthly fee for days 3–4, rising to 10 € or 20% of monthly fee per day from day 5 onwards. The higher amount is always legally binding.
Statutory Compensation under Section 58 TKG: Legal Rights for German Internet Outages
In today's digital economy, an unexpected disruption of broadband internet or landline telephony brings remote work, school communication, and domestic entertainment to an abrupt halt. When a severed fiber-optic conduit or a failed line card at the local street cabinet leaves an entire German household without network access, consumers often assume they are helpless against multinational telecommunications giants. However, the German Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz - TKG) provides an enforceable, non-negotiable statutory compensation framework under Section 58 TKG (Entschädigungsanspruch).
Unlike general damages under the German Civil Code (BGB), which typically require proving specific monetary damages such as lost freelance revenue, statutory compensation under § 58 Abs. 3 TKG is a strict liability flat-rate compensation. If your provider—whether Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Deutschland, Telefónica o2, or 1&1—fails to restore service within the legally specified repair window, you are entitled to statutory payments calculated directly from your monthly tariff.
The Two-Day Restoration Grace Period and the Compensation Scale
Under § 58 Abs. 3 TKG, the statutory clock starts ticking the moment you submit your official fault report (Störungsmeldung) to your provider. The legislature grants the network operator a grace period of two full calendar days to identify and rectify the malfunction free of charge:
- Calendar Days 1 and 2: Statutory repair period. The provider is legally obligated to deploy repair technicians and restore the physical or logical transmission path without levying additional charges. No monetary compensation accrues during these initial 48 hours.
- Calendar Days 3 and 4: If the connection remains down on the 3rd calendar day, statutory compensation takes effect immediately. For day 3 and day 4, the provider must pay 5.00 € or 10% of your monthly base tariff per calendar day, whichever figure is higher. For example, if you subscribe to a premium Gigabit cable tariff costing 69.99 € per month, you receive 7.00 € per day rather than 5.00 €.
- Calendar Day 5 and Every Subsequent Day: If the outage continues past day 4, the statutory daily rate doubles. From the 5th calendar day until the physical connection is certified operational, the provider must pay 10.00 € or 20% of your monthly base tariff per calendar day (again, the higher amount applies). On a 79.99 € business plan, this amounts to 16.00 € per calendar day.
Missed Technician Appointments (§ 58 Abs. 4 TKG)
One of the most persistent frustrations reported by German telecommunications subscribers involves waiting at home for scheduled on-site service technicians who fail to appear. Section 58 (4) TKG establishes an automatic financial penalty for missed appointments:
If an on-site customer service or repair technician appointment was agreed upon with your provider and the technician fails to arrive within the mutually scheduled time window (or cancels with less than 24 hours prior notice), the provider must credit your account with an additional 10.00 € or 20% of the monthly base tariff per missed appointment. This compensation is completely cumulative and applies in addition to any daily outage compensation accrued under paragraph 3.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Successfully Claim Compensation
To ensure your compensation claim cannot be rejected on technicalities, follow this rigorous protocol:
- Report the Outage Immediately: Contact your provider's official hotline or technical support portal as soon as your FRITZ!Box or modem loses synchronization. Always demand a written ticket number (Störungsticket-Nummer) and note the exact date and timestamp of the report. The statutory two-day grace period is measured strictly from this logged notification.
- Export Router Event Logs: Access your router's administration interface (e.g.
http://fritz.box) and navigate to System → Event Log → Internet Connection. Save the system event log as a PDF or screenshot. These timestamped records proving "DSL does not respond" or "Fiber ONT signal loss" constitute indisputable legal proof. - Calculate Your Exact Entitlement: Use our calculator above to compute the total statutory claim including any missed technician penalties.
- Dispatch a Formal Written Claim: Once service is restored (or after 7 days of ongoing failure), dispatch a formal demand letter via registered mail (Einwurf-Einschreiben) or secure customer portal message. You can generate a pre-formatted legal template with our free Dispute Letter Generator. Specify a 14-day payment deadline into your IBAN bank account or demand a credit against your next monthly billing cycle.
Escalation to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur Schlichtungsstelle)
If the telecommunications provider rejects your compensation claim, offers an inadequate courtesy voucher, or simply fails to respond within 30 calendar days, you should immediately escalate the matter to the Schlichtungsstelle Telekommunikation der Bundesnetzagentur in Bonn.
The federal conciliation procedure is governed by Section 68 TKG and is completely free of charge for consumers. You can submit your application online along with your ticket number, router log excerpts, and copies of correspondence. Major German network operators virtually always settle and disburse statutory compensation upon receiving formal contact from the Bundesnetzagentur conciliation chamber.
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❓ Frequently Asked Questions: TKG § 58 Outage Compensation
When am I legally entitled to financial compensation under TKG § 58?
You are entitled to statutory compensation if your provider fails to restore a complete loss of internet or phone service within two calendar days after receiving your official fault report (Störungsmeldung). Entitlement begins on the 3rd calendar day.
How much money do German internet providers have to pay per day of outage?
On the 3rd and 4th calendar days: either 5.00 € or 10% of your monthly base tariff (whichever is higher). From the 5th calendar day onwards: either 10.00 € or 20% of your monthly fee per calendar day. In addition, each missed technician appointment obligates the provider to pay an additional 10.00 € or 20% of the monthly fee.
Does this statutory compensation apply to business contracts as well?
Section 58 TKG applies directly to consumers (Verbraucher). Small business owners and freelance professionals can invoke these statutory rates unless individually negotiated Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with custom compensation clauses take contractual precedence.
What happens if Telekom or Vodafone refuses to pay the compensation?
If your provider rejects your written claim or delays payment past 30 days, you can initiate a completely free conciliation procedure (Schlichtungsverfahren) with the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur - BNetzA) in Bonn.