(1) Where the trader or a person acting in the trader’s name or on the trader’s behalf makes a telephone call to the consumer with a view to concluding a contract with same, the caller is to disclose, at the beginning of the conversation, their identity and, where applicable, the identity of the person on whose behalf the caller is making the call, as well as the commercial purpose of the call.
(2) The trader is obliged to inform the consumer in accordance with the stipulations of Article 246 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code (Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche). The trader may demand that the consumer cover freight, delivery, or postal charges and other costs only inasmuch as the trader has informed the consumer of these costs in accordance with the requirements established in Article 246 (1) no. 3 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code (Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche). Sentences 1 and 2 apply neither to off-premises contracts nor to distance contracts nor to contracts relating to financial services.
(3) A trader may conclude an agreement with a consumer that is directed towards obtaining extra payment from the consumer in addition to the remuneration agreed upon for the principal performance only if this is done expressly. Where the trader and the consumer conclude a contract in electronic commerce, such an agreement will form part of the contract only if the trader does not bring about the agreement by means of a default option.
(4) An agreement obligating a consumer to pay a fee for the use of a certain means of payment by way of meeting their contractual obligations is ineffective if
1. no customary and reasonable payment method is available to the consumer that is free of charge, or
2. the fee agreed exceeds the cost borne by the trader for the use of such means of payment.
(5) An agreement obligating a consumer to pay a fee for those cases in which the consumer contacts the trader via a telephone line that the trader operates for the purpose of answering questions or providing explanations regarding a contract concluded by the parties is ineffective if the fee agreed upon exceeds the fee charged for the use merely of the telecommunications service as such. Where an agreement is ineffective pursuant to sentence 1, the consumer is not bound to pay a fee for the call to the telecommunications services provider, either. The telecommunications services provider has the right to demand the fee for the use merely of the telecommunications services from the trader who has concluded the ineffective agreement with the consumer.
(6) Where an agreement pursuant to subsections (3) to (5) has not come to form part of the contract or where it is ineffective, the contract remains effective in all other respects.