Determination of an Disproportionately High Realization Fee by the Debt Collection Office

Facts

In debt collection proceedings, the appellant X. Company had seized cash amounts equivalent to CHF 102,293,918.10 realized. The Debt Collection Office Zurich 1 set a fee of 2 per mille of the realization proceeds, i.e. CHF 204,587.80, for this. The appellant filed a constitutional appeal against this, as the fee was not in reasonable proportion to the state service.

Considerations

The Federal Court states that the principle of equivalence requires that a fee must not be in obvious disproportion to the objective value of the service. While the economic benefit to the debtor can be taken into account in setting the fee, a fee of 2 per mille without any upper limit on a very high realization proceeds and modest administrative effort leads to a violation of the principle of equivalence.

Furthermore, Art. 16 DEBA only authorizes the Federal Council to set a fee schedule,…