Payback limit
for
medical products.
Payback limit
for
medical products.
from
PAYBACK capped: The Federal Court of Justice ruled that only PAYBACK points worth a maximum of one euro may be granted per medical product sold. Higher bonuses violate the Medicinal Products Advertising Act.
Payback points capped for medical products
The Federal Court of Justice by Judgment of 17.7.2025 Ref. I ZR 43/24 has put a limit to the granting of PAYBACK points for the sale of medical products. The case was triggered by a dispute between a hearing care professional and the Central Office for Combating Unfair Competition. The hearing aid specialist advertised that each customer would receive one PAYBACK point for every euro spent. The PAYBACK bonus system, which is familiar to many people from the retail trade, allows its participants to exchange the points they collect for cash or other rewards. However, this poses a problem from a legal perspective, as the advertising of medical products is strictly regulated. Apart from a few exceptions, the granting of free rewards is not permitted for the sale of medical products.
The term promotional gift […] covers
in principle any non-cash benefit not calculated from the recipient’s perspective […] The crediting of PAYBACK points at issue here fulfills these requirements
Relevance Even for individual medical devices
The hearing care professional objected that the PAYBACK advertising related to the entire product range and was not specifically aimed at individual medical products. In addition to hearing aids, numerous accessories were also offered, so that the points were not primarily awarded for the sale of a specific medical product. However, this argument did not apply. According to the court, the decisive factor is not whether an advertisement covers the entire product range, but whether it also promotes the sale of medical products. Even the inclusion of individual medical products, in this case hearing aids, is sufficient to classify the measure as sales advertising within the meaning of the Medicinal Products Advertising Act.
Exception for a maximum of one euro
In contrast to the lower court, which still generously allowed promotional gifts of up to five euros due to the fact that hearing aids are not price-linked medical devices, the Federal Court of Justice has now made it unmistakably clear: here too, only one euro per medical device sold is permitted, regardless of whether or not price competition exists for these products due to the lack of a prescription requirement. According to the reasoning, higher bonuses make the price comparison unnecessarily complicated for customers and entail the risk that the purchase decision depends more on the gift than on the actual price. This limit should therefore be drawn at a value of one euro.
Conclusion
Advertising gifts in the healthcare sector are subject to strict value limits. Exceeding these limits can entail legal risks and constitute breaches of competition law . We review your advertising measures, advise you on permissible structures and support you in communicating effectively on the market in a legally compliant manner.
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