Exemption from costs

(1) No fees or expenses are charged for the procedure before the authorities under this Code. In derogation from the first sentence, the providers of statutory pension insurance receive a fee of 10.20 euros for each item of information provided on the basis of section 74a(2) and (3).
(2) Transactions and dealings that become necessary on the occasion of the application for, the rendering of, or the reimbursement of, a social benefit are free of cost. This also applies to the court fees determined in the Court and Notary Fees Act. Exempt from certification and authentication costs are instruments that 1. become required, in social insurance, at insurance carriers and insurance authorities, in order to settle the legal relationships between the insurance carriers on the one hand and the employers, insured persons or their survivors on the other; 2. are required, in the law of social assistance, the law of basic security for jobseekers, and the law of child and youth welfare assistance, on the occasion of the application for, the rendering of, or the reimbursement of, a benefit provided for under the Twelfth Book, the Second Book or the Eighth Book; 3. are considered required, in the law of severely disabled persons, by the competent body in connection with the use of the compensatory levy; 4. are considered required in the law of social compensation and of soldiers' compensation; 5. are considered required in the law of child benefit.
(3) Subsection (2), first sentence also applies to court proceedings to which the Act on the Procedure in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction applies. In proceedings under the Code of Civil Procedure, the Act on the Procedure in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction, and in proceedings before the courts of social and fiscal jurisdiction, the providers of integration assistance, of social assistance, of basic security for jobseekers, of benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act, of youth welfare assistance and of social compensation are exempt from court costs; section 197a of the Social Courts Act remains unaffected.