Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 3 April 2008 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandesgericht Köln, Germany) — 01051 Telecom GmbH v Deutsche Telekom AG

(Case C-306/06) (1)

(Directive 2000/35/EC - Combating of late payment in commercial transactions - Article 3(1)(c)(ii) - Late payment - Bank transfer - Date on which payment is to be regarded as having been made)

(2008/C 128/10)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Oberlandesgericht Köln

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: 01051 Telecom GmbH

Defendant: Deutsche Telekom AG

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Oberlandesgericht Köln — Interpretation of Article 3(1)(c)(ii) of Directive 2000/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (OJ 2000 L 200, p. 35) — Whether a creditor may claim default interest — ‘Receipt’ by the creditor of the amount due — National rule under which the time of payment is considered to be the time when the debtor gives the transfer order to the bank and not the time when the creditor's account is credited

Operative part of the judgment

Article 3(1)(c)(ii) of Directive 2000/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions is to be interpreted as meaning that it requires, in order that a payment by bank transfer may avoid or put an end to the application of interest for late payment, that the sum due be credited to the account of the creditor within the period for payment.

(1)  OJ C 249, 14.10.2006.