It took a long time, but now it is fixed: The long-standing legal dispute with VW over emissions manipulation in diesel vehicles “could now be settled out of court and thus an unbureaucratic solution was achieved for the participants in the VKI class action lawsuits. As part of the agreement A total of 23 million euros were paid out by the VKI to the participants in the class action lawsuit.
The Association for Consumer Information ﴾VKI﴿ has been conducting class action lawsuits on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs ﴾BMSGPK﴿ and the Federal Chamber of Labor ﴾BAK﴿ – since autumn 2018. The trigger was the allegations that became known in 2015 regarding the engine control software in EA189 diesel vehicles. “The VKI was of the opinion that those affected had paid too much for their vehicle against this background,” it continues.
“The VKI, supported by the litigation financier Omni Bridgeway, represents the participants in the class action lawsuits – in 16 proceedings at all 16 regional courts in Austria. The basis of these proceedings are the allegations that became known in 2015 regarding the engine control software in diesel vehicles of the engine type EA189,” said the VKI.
And it continues: “After intensive negotiations, an agreement for the VKI class action lawsuits has now been reached out of court. The participants in the VKI class action lawsuits will receive a total amount of 23 million euros. The VKI will handle the settlement. Those affected Participants will be informed directly by the VKI about the individual result and further processing.”
“We are extremely pleased that solutions have been reached for the class action lawsuits on the EA 189 issue that have been pending since 2018 and that these proceedings have now been positively concluded,” says Stefan Schreiner, head of the actions department at the VKI, about the agreement reached.