Bern Administrative Court confirms: Concession fees remain untouched
During the coronavirus pandemic, Bern's municipal council rightly refused to reduce the concession fees for public billposting. This is the conclusion reached by the cantonal administrative court.
It has rejected an appeal by the licensee, according to a decision published on Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether this is the last word. The appellant can appeal the ruling to the Federal Supreme Court.
Neo Advertising SA holds the concession for billposting on public land for 2020 to 2027. Following a merger, the outdoor advertising marketer is now called Goldbach Neo. For 2020 and 2021, it had requested a reduction in the concession fees by 25 percent in each year. It claimed that the achievable turnover was around 40 percent below budget due to the coronavirus measures.
The coronavirus measures had led to a slump in the number of passers-by and commuters. This has reduced the "value" of the advertising space. In addition, demand has fallen because advertising has been cut back. Across Switzerland, the company suffered a loss in the millions, which would have been even higher without a hardship allowance from the Canton of Geneva.
"Part of the entrepreneurial risk"
The company argued that paying the full concession fees in 2020 and 2021 would be a disproportionate case of hardship. The Bernese administrative court took a different view. The company's economic situation had been significantly affected by the pandemic and its consequences.
However, certain economic losses are part of the entrepreneurial risk that the concessionaire must bear. In return, it does not have to pay higher concession fees to the city of Berne if it achieves higher profits than forecast.
In order to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic, specific instruments such as short-time work, Covid-19 loans and hardship grants were available from the state. The complainant had also made use of these.
Moreover, the years 2020 and 2021 should not be viewed in isolation. The concession is valid for eight years. This provides the opportunity to better exploit the rights from the concessions during the remaining term.
