Obligation to provide information

(1) The statutory provision ordering a federal statistic must specify whether, and to what extent, the survey is to take place with or without an obligation to provide information. Where an obligation to provide information is established, all natural and legal persons of private and public law, associations of persons, federal and Land authorities, and municipalities and associations of municipalities, are obliged to answer the questions duly put to them.
(2) The obligation to provide information exists vis-à-vis the survey officers and the bodies officially entrusted with conducting the federal statistics (survey bodies).
(3) Answers must be given by respondents in the form specified by the survey body.
(4) The answer may be given electronically, in writing, orally or by telephone, insofar as this possibility of answering is offered by the survey body. In the case of an oral or telephone survey, the possibility of giving a written answer must also be provided. The obligation to answer electronically may be imposed only under the conditions of section 11a or on the basis of a federal statute.
(5) The answer must be given truthfully, completely, and within the time limits set by the survey bodies. The answer is deemed to have been given where it 1. has, in the case of transmission by post, reached the survey body, or 2. has, in the case of electronic transmission, been recorded by the facility designated to receive it in a manner that can be processed by the survey body. Unless otherwise provided in a statutory provision, the answer must be given free of charge and postage-free for the recipient.
(6) Where, in an oral or telephone survey, the answer under subsection (4) sentence 2 is given in writing, the completed questionnaires may be handed to the survey officers, submitted to the survey body, or sent to it.
(7) An objection and an action for annulment against the request to provide information do not have suspensive effect.