Terms and Conditions of Use and Data Protection Regulations for VERBUND Websites and Online Services.

(1) The subject matter of these Terms of Use is the use of the website (hereinafter referred to as “VERBUND Website”) provided by VERBUND AG and/or one of its subsidiaries (hereinafter referred to as “VERBUND”).

(2) On its website, VERBUND offers industry- and company-related information to its customers, business partners and the general public. Furthermore, specific services (e.g. special customer portals) may be offered that are subject to special terms of use and/or require special registration. Such special terms of use shall replace or supplement the Terms of Use of the VERBUND Website and shall have priority over them.

(3) By visiting and/or using the VERBUND Website you hereby accept the Terms of Use of the VERBUND Website in its respectively effective version. VERBUND shall be entitled to amend these Terms of Use from time to time.

(4) VERBUND shall be entitled to partially or fully shut down the website and/or change the contents and/or services as required. VERBUND shall assume no guarantee for the uninterrupted availability of the VERBUND Website. Users shall have no right to the use or continued maintenance of the VERBUND Website.

(5) Unless a user of the VERBUND Website is a consumer in terms of § 1 of the Consumer Protection Act, §§ 9, 10 of the E-Commerce Act shall not be applied.

(1) Unless otherwise stated, copyright for all documents (texts, images, graphics and suchlike) published on the VERBUND website shall be held exclusively by VERBUND. With regard to all rights (e.g. intellectual property rights, copyrights or similar rights), nobody will be granted a license or any other kind of right based on the utilization of VERBUND websites.

(2) The reproduction of documents for personal, non-public and non-commercial use and the utilization or use of explicitly offered documents shall be excluded from the above provision.
Trademarks, designs, images, texts, parts of texts or any other contents published on the VERBUND website must not be changed, copied, reproduced, utilized, supplemented or utilized in any other manner without prior written approval by VERBUND.

(1) VERBUND may be held liable for damages to the user as a result of the utilisation of VERBUND websites only in the event of wilful intent or gross negligence. Also excluded is any liability for loss of earnings, savings that have not been achieved, lost or changed data, indirect damages or damages resulting from claims of third parties unless otherwise required by mandatory law.

(2) VERBUND shall assume no liability for incorrect or missing information on the VERBUND website. The user shall consequently assume sole responsibility for any decisions based on the information made available on the VERBUND website. VERBUND disclaims, in particular, any liability for direct, specific losses or consequential losses or any other type of damages sustained, arising for whatever reason, from either the direct or indirect use of the information published on the VERBUND website.

(3) VERBUND shall assume no responsibility or warranty for any services offered on the VERBUND website that are arranged, created or otherwise provided by third parties.

(4) VERBUND has used reasonable endeavours to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information published on the VERBUND website at the time it was made available. VERBUND makes no warranty and assumes no guarantees whatsoever for the information published on this website, such as downloads, external links or other content that can be used either directly or indirectly from the VERBUND website or can be downloaded from this website. VERBUND shall also reserve the right to make changes or amendments to the information published on the website without giving prior notice.

(1) VERBUND shall make every effort to operate its website continuously and ensure its accessibility, depending on the available technical, economical, operational and organizational possibilities.

(2) VERBUND shall assume no warranty or guarantee that the VERBUND website or its contents are at all available or available without interruption, without error or that errors are corrected. Nor does VERBUND accept any guarantee that the VERBUND Website or auxiliary means (such as the server) are free of viruses or any other harmful components. To the extent legally permissible, VERBUND shall expressly assume no liability whatsoever for any kind of damages arising from making the VERBUND website or any auxiliary means available.

(3) VERBUND shall assume no liability for any periods during which the website is not available due to technical or any other type of problems.

(1) Any information about the financial market on VERBUND websites, in particular about the VERBUND share, as well as information about any company-related developments, does not constitute legally binding information. None of the information made available represents a call to buy or deal with shares (and/or with any kind of securities).

(2) The VERBUND Website may contain contents with forward-looking statements that are based on the current situation. Such information is subject to high risks, since VERBUND’s business development may be controlled by a large number of external factors over which the company has no control. None of these contents, therefore, represent in any way the basis for decisions to buy or deal with shares.

(3) The prices for the VERBUND share and any related information on the share on VERBUND websites are made available by Investis Flife AG based in Eichendorffstrasse 12 c+d, 97072 Würzburg, Germany. VERBUND shall assume no liability for the accuracy or availability of the data.

VERBUND websites contain external links directing our users to third-party websites. VERBUND has no influence regarding availability, quality and content of linked websites and assumes no responsibility for the content of external websites that may violate prevailing laws or cause some form of damage to the visitors of said websites.

 

These provisions are governed exclusively by the substantive law of the Republic of Austria excluding the conflict-of-law rules of international private law and excluding the provisions laid down in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Place of jurisdiction shall be Vienna unless otherwise required by mandatory law.

Should any individual provisions of these Terms of Use be or become totally or partially ineffective or incomplete, this shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining provisions or parts of such provisions. The invalid provision shall be deemed as replaced by such valid provision that as closely as possible reflects the economic purpose of the invalid provision.

(1) Users have the possibility, following the appropriate authentication process and acceptance of the prevailing comment regulations, to write comments on the VERBUND blog under: www.verbund.com/blog and to therewith participate in online dialogue with VERBUND and other users. The following comment regulations apply in this case:

(2) Users are to treat each other with mutual respect and common sense and, as such, to refrain from making obscene, abusive, pornographic, pestering, racist, defamatory or other such comments that violate the prevailing Austrian law. Objectiveness in the argumentation and tolerance towards VERBUND and other users and their viewpoints form the prerequisite for valuable discussions on the VERBUND blog.

(3) Users are asked to write their personal opinions and are not permitted to circulate opinions from third parties. Users are fully liable for the content of their comments and are asked to observe the prevailing Austrian law – in particular that which pertains to personal rights and property rights.

(4) Users are invited to submit constructive criticism, insofar as this is argued in an objective manner, supported by data or is in another form conducive to online dialogue. Particularly to be avoided is the posting of sweeping statements and personal attacks against VERBUND employees.

(5) Users are not permitted to wantonly send spam to the VERBUND blog. By this we are referring to targeted posts with one or more identical contents or similar comments from individuals or groups.

(6) Furthermore, users are not permitted to use the comment function for promotional and/or commercial purposes or to abuse the dialogue forum in another way for personal financial gain.

(7) VERBUND is authorised, at any time, in accordance with the company’s own evaluation and without prior information to the user, to delete or shorten users’ contributions or parts of contributions, in the event that these contributions do not comply with the comment regulations or if VERBUND is asked to do so by a third party. In the event of violation of the comment regulations, especially of prevailing laws, VERBUND has the right to initiate legal steps against the user and, if necessary, to communicate data and the contents of comments to the authorities and/or law courts.

(8) Applicable law and place of jurisdiction
Austrian law shall apply exclusively, with the exception of relevant provisions of international private law and the provisions of the United Nations convention on contracts for the international sale of goods. The place of jurisdiction is Vienna, unless this contravenes statutory legislation.

(9) Final provisions
In the event that individual provisions of the comment regulations prove to be wholly or partially ineffective or incomplete, the effectiveness of the remaining provisions or part of such provisions remains untouched. An invalid provision will be replaced by a legally valid provision that comes closest to the intended goal.

 VERBUND AG and/or one of its subsidiaries (in short "VERBUND") will store and utilize all data transmitted and disseminated via the VERBUND website in compliance with the valid legal provisions of the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG 2000).

VERBUND shall be entitled to process any data made known by the user for processing services or for providing energy services.

Furthermore, the user shall consent to receiving information and advertising material electronically (e.g. by e-mail) from VERBUND. This consent can be revoked at any time (by e-mail to information@verbund.com).
Based on the user’s Web browser settings, the user consents to the use of cookies by VERBUND, specifically to the saving of cookies to the user’s hard disk. For more detailed information, please see Section 8 below.

 

 

As a user, you have the right to access your personal data (Section 26 of the Austrian Data Protection Act – DSG) saved by VERBUND, as well as the right to be informed about the data’s origin, the recipients and the purpose of such data processing. You can obtain information about the saved data from Karl Stadler by sending an e-mail to karl.stadler@verbund.com.

As a user, you have the right to rectify or delete at any time any of your personal data which VERBUND has saved (Section 27 of the Austrian Data Protection Act, DSG). For rectifying or deleting your data, please contact Karl Stadler (karl.stadler@verbund.com).

As a user, you have the right to revoke your consent to the collection and saving of your personal data by us at any time (Section 28 of the Austrian Data Protection Act). For this purpose, please get in touch with Karl Stadler (karl.stadler@verbund.com).

The VERBUND Web pages are implemented and maintained together with internal and external service providers. In certain cases, we send such service providers anonymised data for development and testing purposes. Under certain circumstances, our service providers are also given permission to access open data, but before doing so they are bound by contract to use any obtained data exclusively according to our instructions, and to delete such data after completing the work.

VERBUND shall make every reasonable effort to offer the exchange of data via online media as secure as is currently possible in terms of technology and organisation, for example by applying 128-bit browser encryption (https) to the data to be transmitted. At the same time, users are requested to make every reasonable effort to use the Internet safely (use of the latest browser version, keeping the access data relating to online services secret).

Like many other Website operators, VERBUND uses standard technology called “cookies”. These temporary text files contain certain information, for example, information indicating that a user has already visited one of our Web pages before. They have the effect that users can access the site without having to enter their username each time they log in. If a user accesses our Website, the VERBUND server provides not only the Webpage but also a cookie. Depending on its local settings, the user’s browser decides whether or not the cookie may be placed on the user’s computer. As a user, you can disallow the storing of cookies on your computer by adjusting your browser settings. Cookies themselves cannot harm your computer and can only be read by the Website that placed the cookie.

VERBUND uses cookies to identify whether you have already visited our Website before and/or whether you are an online services user already known to us. We are additionally able to evaluate your preferences to optimise our contents and make your visit to our Website as convenient as possible.

On the entire VERBUND website, we use the analytics software Webtrends provided by Webtrends Inc. based in 851 SW 6th Ave. Suite 1600, Portland, OR 97204, U.S., as well as Google Analytics by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, U.S., to obtain anonymized usage statistics.

The above software systems gather anonymized user information such as geographic origin (IP address of Internet provider), Web pages visited, type of browser and time of access. The compiled information is used for the purpose of optimising the VERBUND website. The software systems do not allow direct conclusions on the user’s IP address.

Exclusively VERBUND and external service providers, which are bound by contract to use the obtained data exclusively according to our instructions and to delete them after finishing the job, have access to the collected data.

On certain VERBUND Web pages, users can subscribe to the Newsletter. The Newsletter is an electronic publication sent to you on a regular basis by e-mail to the e-mail address you made known upon registration.

The data collected to do so are saved in a newsletter system that is operated by emarsys eMarketing Systems based in Märzstraße 1, 1150 Vienna, Austria.

As a user, you have the option of changing the extent of data you provided at any time or terminating your Newsletter subscription (by using the link given in the Newsletter).

To ensure the best possible use of online contents of VERBUND Web pages, VERBUND Web pages also incorporate applications of third parties (Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, Disqus) as well as contents that are saved on platforms belonging to third parties (YouTube, Flickr, Twitter).

Despite running careful checks and taking active measures to protect data, VERBUND has no influence on the type and use of user data collected by third parties on VERBUND Web pages.

Such data shall exclusively be the responsibility of the providers of such applications.

Facebook Inc., based in 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, US (hereinafter referred to as Facebook), offers plugins for website operators, which VERBUND uses on its Website. You can identify these plugins by the Facebook logo or the Facebook Like and Recommend button. If you access a page belonging to the VERBUND Website which contains this plugin, your browser will establish a connection to the plugin provider’s servers. The content of the plugin is transferred from Facebook directly to your browser and displayed accordingly embedded in the Web page. We have no influence on the content displayed by the plugin. Under certain circumstances, Facebook is able to trace your visit to certain pages belonging to the Website and assign it to a Facebook account if you are registered with Facebook or have recently visited a Facebook page or a page with Facebook content. If you use plugins actively, for example by activating the Like button or sending a Recommendation for the Website, corresponding information is also sent directly from your browser to Facebook without us having any influence on it. For more detailed information on the type, purpose and extent as well as the further processing and use of your data by Facebook, please read Facebook’s privacy policy at http://www.facebook.com/policy.php. There you will also learn more about your related rights and the available setting options to protect your privacy. VERBUND has neither influence on the purpose and extent of data collection by Facebook or the further processing by Facebook nor does VERBUND have any access to such data.
Twitter Inc., based in 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 95107, US (hereinafter referred to as Twitter), offers plugins for website operators, which VERBUND uses on its Website. You can identify these plugins by the Twitter Tweet or the Follow button. Pages containing these plugins establish a direct connection to Twitter and send various data depending on your log-in status at Twitter. This may allow Twitter to make conclusions about your Internet usage on the VERBUND Website, which Twitter could use for its own purposes. The displayed plugin contents are located on the Twitter servers and are only displayed on the VERBUND Website. VERBUND has neither influence on the purpose and extent of data collection by Twitter or the further processing by Twitter nor does VERBUND have any access to such data. For more detailed information on Twitter’s privacy policy, please visit http://twitter.com/privacy.
Google Inc., based in 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (hereinafter referred to as Google), offers plugins for website operators, which VERBUND uses on its Website. You can identify these plugins by the Google-Plus-One button. Pages containing these plugins establish a direct connection to Google and send various data depending on your log-in status at Google. This allows conclusions to be made on your Internet usage with regard to the VERBUND Website or may have an impact on Google’s search engine results. The displayed plugin contents are located on Google’s servers and are only displayed on the VERBUND Website. Purpose and extent of the data collected by Google and the further processing by Google are neither connected in any way to VERBUND nor does VERBUND have any access to such data. For more detailed information on Google’s privacy policy, please see http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/policy/+1button.html.

Big Head Labs Inc. based in 589 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA (hereinafter referred to as Disqus) offers a comment system plugin for Website operators, which VERBUND uses on its Web pages.

The plugin can be identified by the commenting area (comment field with comment overview) and the Disqus logo. Pages containing this plugin establish a direct connection to Disqus and transfer any comments previously saved by VERBUND. It is possible to log in via the Disqus Website (www.disqus.com) or via your personal accounts at Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, OpenID and others. Another possibility is authentication via a valid e-mail address.

Disqus.com is managed by its operators in the US where its server is based, which is the originally responsible entity in terms of data protection law. The privacy policy and terms of use specified by disqus.com, which can be viewed at http://docs.disqus.com/help/30/ and at http://docs.disqus.com/help/29/, shall apply. Disqus collects and processes the personal data entered in the course of commenting, both relating to the use of an existing Disqus account and, additionally, if the comment function is used as a “guest”. When signing in to disqus.com using a third-party service (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo or OpenID Account) these service providers might also collect, store, process or use data. Details on this can be found in the respective provider’s privacy policy and terms of use.

With regard to the collected data, besides the posted content and the username, VERBUND is also provided with the stored authentication e-mail address and the IP address. The e-mail address is exclusively used for communication in the case of problems or service orders and may, in this respect, be stored for such purposes within the VERBUND Group.

(1) The subject matter of the general terms and conditions of use (hereafter referred to as "terms of use" is the use of the "Online Account" for households, industry & agriculture (hereafter referred to as "Online Account"), which is made available online by VERBUND AG (hereafter referred to as "VERBUND") at www.verbund.at. 

(2) The "Online Account" is available for free use only to VERBUND customers (hereafter referred to as "user"). The use of the "Online Account" is provided for the user's own benefit only; commercial use, especially the transmission of data to third parties, with or without payments, is prohibited. Use is permissible and possible only upon registration and access activation by the user. Initial and continued access of the "Online Account" does not constitute a right of the user's. 

(3) Terms of use shall apply for current and future services in connection with the "Online Account". Individual services may be subject to specific conditions of use and/or agreement. 

(4) In the event of discrepancies, specific conditions of use and/or agreement shall prevail before general terms and conditions. Should individual provisions of these terms of use contradict certain provisions contained in the electricity supply contract concluded with the user, the terms of the electricity supply contract shall apply. The validity of the other provisions contained in the terms of use shall remain unaffected.

VERBUND is entitled to change its Terms of Use and/or the scope of its online services offered through the Online Account at any time. Users are notified online via their Online Account or in any other suitable electronic way. You can unsubscribe from your Online Account at any time in writing or by e-mail to service@verbund.at, stating your customer number and username.

(1) Registration is carried out on the www.verbund.at website. By registering, the user also accepts the latest applicable version of the Terms of Use. If a user has several customer numbers, the user is required to register separately for each customer number. For registration, the following data are necessary:

• Customer number
• Connection number 
• Last name
• Username (chosen by user)
• Password (chosen by user)
• E-mail address   

(2) Following registration, the user is sent an activation link to the e-mail address the user has given. Unless the activation is performed within a period of 24 hours, starting the moment is sent, the activation link shall lose its validity after said period. Following successful activation, the user is registered for the Online Account.

(3) The use of individual services may lead to further registration requirements.

(1) Upon termination of the Power Supply Agreement, the Online Account can be used at least for another 8 months, starting from the day you change over to another electricity provider. After that, the access will be deactivated and the user data deleted.

(2) VERBUND shall further be entitled to block access to the Online Account with immediate effect on substantial grounds. Such substantial grounds are given, in particular, in the event of a breach of the Terms of Use, if ordered by authorities or courts, in the event of failure to pay under the Power Supply Agreement following an unsuccessful reminder, in the event of loss of access data (username, password), and if there are other circumstances that indicate unlawful use of the Online Account.

(3) Users can unsubscribe from the Online Account at any time in writing (see also Section 2).

(4) The user shall be notified of the blocked access to the Online Account by e-mail (sent to the e-mail address last made known).

(1) When using the Online Account on the Internet, the user must apply the greatest possible diligence and ensure the use of adequate security precautions, specifically of an antivirus programme, observe all of the relevant laws or other legal regulations, in particular industrial property rights and copyrights, and not to enter or send any such data or information that would be contrary to morality.

(2) The user shall have the duty to keep access data (username, password and similar) secret, and not to forward such data to third parties. In the event of loss of access data, or if there is reason to suspect these data are being used by an unauthorised person, the user shall have the duty to notify VERBUND immediately thereof, in writing, by telephone (call 0800 210 210) or by e-mail to service@verbund.at. VERBUND will have the access blocked as fast as possible and provide the user with new access data.

(3) Furthermore, the user must ensure that the data entered into the Online Account is always kept up to date, complete and correct. In the case of any changes and/or incorrect data, particularly of personal data such as e-mail address or similar, the user is required to make such changes him/herself in the Online Services immediately, i.e. as soon as possible. If this is not possible, the user is required to notify VERBUND of any changes without delay in writing, by telephone (call 0800 210 210) or by e-mail to service@verbund.at.

(4) The user shall indemnify and hold harmless VEBUND against any claims from third parties due to the violation of the mentioned obligations as well as in the event of unlawful behaviour in connection with the registration.

VERBUND and VERBUND Sales GmbH shall use EDP to store, process and, to the extent absolutely necessary, forward to user’s respective network operators, suppliers, Energie-Control GmbH as well as providers of product-specific services the user data (customer number, connection number, last name, username, password and e-mail address) and other data made known by the user during use of the Online Account, taking into account the applicable statutory provisions laid down in the Data Protection Act governing the contractual processing of Online Account services and the fulfilment of the statutory obligations.

(1) VERBUND shall make every effort to operate the Online Account continuously and to ensure its accessibility, depending on the available technical, economical, operational and organisational possibilities.

(2) VERBUND is entitled to interrupt access to the Online Account for a reasonable period of time for important reasons, such as service and maintenance work.

(3) VERBUND and VERBUND Sales GmbH shall assume no liability for any periods of inaccessibility due to technical or any other type of problems.

(1) VERBUND and VERBUND Sales GmbH may only be held liable in the event of wilful intent or gross negligence. In the case of companies, as defined by the Consumer Protection Act, any liability for loss of earnings, savings that have not been achieved, lost or changed data, indirect damages or damages resulting from claims of third parties shall be excluded, unless otherwise required by mandatory law.

(2) VERBUND and VERBUND Sales GmbH shall not be liable for any damages arising from misuse or inappropriate use of the Online Account, incomplete or inaccurate information or non-observance of due diligence requirements as specified in the Terms of Use on the part of the user. Any liability for damages arising from third parties gaining knowledge of username and password due to the user’s violation of the due diligence obligations shall also be excluded.

(3) In the Online Account, VERBUND also offers services that are arranged, created or otherwise provided by third parties. Such services are indicated by the corresponding names. For such services, VERBUND and VERBUND Sales GmbH shall assume no liability.

These provisions are governed exclusively by the substantive law of the Republic of Austria excluding the conflict-of-law rules of international private law and excluding the provisions laid down in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Place of jurisdiction for any disputes arising from this agreement shall be the relevant court in Vienna, Inner City. In the event of lawsuits taken against users who are consumers as defined by the Consumer Protection Act, this shall be the court having jurisdiction over their place of residence, permanent place of residence or their workplace pursuant to § 14 Consumer Protection Act.

(1) In the case of enquiries or complaints, the Online Account services, as well as our free-of-charge Service Line (call 0800 210 210 or write to service@verbund.at) are available to our users.

(2) The content (texts, images, graphics or similar) and structure and design of the Online Services are protected under copyright and/or trademark law. Any utilisation or use is not permitted without approval of VERBUND. The utilisation or use of explicitly offered materials is excluded therefrom.

(3) Any declarations relating to power supply agreements (specifically cancellations or declarations concerning the billing) in the form of notifications sent by the user via the Online Account services shall be ineffective, except for such declarations for which corresponding forms are provided for download through the Online Account. Any other notifications require the written form, unless the Online Account offers an electronic dialog option for the required purpose.

(4) Should any individual provisions of these Terms of Use be or become totally or partially ineffective or incomplete, this shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining provisions or parts of such provisions. The invalid provision shall be deemed as replaced by such valid provision that as closely as possible reflects the economic purpose of the invalid provision.

(1) The subject matter of the terms of use for "Online Bill" is the use of the "Online Bill" services provided by VERBUND AG (hereinafter referred to as "VERBUND") in the VERBUND "Online Account" for households, industry & agriculture (hereafter referred to as "Online Account). Through the "Online Bill" service, VERBUND offers the user the possibility of receiving electricity Bill online. The usage of "Online Bill" does not constitute a legal right.  

(3) Alongside the terms of use for "Online Bill", also applicable are the general terms of use for the VERBUND "Online Account" for households, industry & agriculture with an annual electricity consumption of max. 100.000 kWh and with a standard load profile, as well as for companies with 0.1 – 1 GWh annual electricity consumption and load profile counters. Special attention is drawn to point 5. (due diligence of the user), 7. (availability of the online services) and 8. (liability). General terms of use are available as a download in the "Online Account". (3) By visiting and/or using the VERBUND Website you hereby accept the Terms of Use of the VERBUND Website in its respectively effective version. VERBUND shall be entitled to amend these Terms of Use from time to time. 

(4) VERBUND is entitled to change the terms of use of "Online Bill". The user will be informed of this in a timely manner in the "Online Account", either online or in some other appropriate electronic form.

(1) Users may register for the use of "Online Bill" at the time of registration for the "Online Account" or at a later date. Upon registration, the user accepts the prevailing terms of use of "Online Invoices" and waives the delivery of printed electricity invoices per post, fax or e-mail.

(2) The user will be informed of the successful registration via e-mail on the e-mail address most recently disclosed to VERBUND. From the moment of the successful registration to "Online Bill", the delivery of electricity invoices will be executed electronically in the "Online Account" under "Online Bill".

(1) Deregistration from "Online Invoices" may be made at any time in writing or by e-mail under service@verbund.at, disclosing the customer number and billing address.

(2) In the event that a deregistration of the "Online Account" is initiated by the user, or there is a change in the payment method or the user is suspended from using the "online account" by VERBUND, any of the user’s usage rights with regards to "Online Invoices" are also simultaneously suspended as soon as this action takes effect. Furthermore, VERBUND is also authorised to suspend access to the "Online Invoices" if there are important reasons for so doing. Important reasons are stipulated as being a change in payment method initiated by the user, infringements of the terms of use or the failure of an attempted debit.

(3) VERBUND informs the user of the suspension of access to "Online Invoices" or the deregistration of the user from "Online Bill" by sending an e-mail to the most recently disclosed e-mail address. A renewed registration to "Online Invoices" is necessary for renewed usage following a suspension or deregistration of the user from "Online Invoices". Access to the "Online Account" remains unchanged following deregistration from "Online Invoices".

(4) Billing is executed from the time of suspension or deregistration from "Online Bill" by sending the invoice in printed form by post, fax or e-mail to the most recently disclosed address.

(1) The online bill is provided with an electronic signature and can be accessed online and downloaded once. This electronically signed bill complies with § 11, para. 2 of the Austrian Value Added Tax Act, 1994. The user has the duty to archive the electronically signed bill (at first download) including the electronic signature, certificate and signature test protocol electronically for the term of the statutory retention period. The bill duplicates (marked "copy") shown under Online Bills are not bills as defined under the Value Added Tax Act, 1994, and do not entitle users to deduction of input tax. At the user’s request, VERBUND shall send user bill duplicates in hardcopy by mail.

(2) The user shall have the duty to access Online Bill on a regular basis (at least once a month) in order to be informed about the addition of new bills. Separate information given by VERBUND on the availability of new bills by e-mail is a mere service provided to the e-mail address last made known by the user. VERBUND shall not provide any separate information on ongoing payment by instalment.

(3) Bills shall be deemed as received the moment they are made available in the Online Account, at a time at which, under normal circumstances, the user can access them. Upon termination of the Power Supply Agreement, bills are kept available at least for another 8 months, starting from the day the user changes over to another electricity provider.

Under adherence of the prevailing statutory regulations of the Data Protection Act, data divulged by the user during the use of the "Online Invoices" feature will be subject to computer storage and processing by VERBUND and VERBUND Sales GmbH for the contractual execution of the services in the "Online Account", as well as for the fulfilment of statutory obligations; moreover, the data will be communicated as necessary to the user’s grid operator, suppliers and Energie Control GmbH, as well as to providers of product-specific services.

(1) In the case of enquiries or complaints, the Online Account services as well as our free-of-charge Service Line – call 0800 210 210 or write to service@verbund.at – are available to our users.

(2) The user shall have the duty to notify VERBUND of any change to his/her billing address, bank details, e-mail address or any other data needed to implement the contract without delay (in writing and/or via the Online Account). Notifications from VERBUND to the customer shall be deemed as served with legal effect if VERBUND demonstrably sends such notifications to the customer details (address and/or e-mail address and/or fax number) last made known by the customer.

(3) Should any individual provisions of these Terms of Use be or become totally or partially ineffective or incomplete, this shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining provisions or parts of such provisions. The invalid provision shall be deemed as replaced by such valid provision that as closely as possible reflects the economic purpose of the invalid provision.

(4) These provisions are governed exclusively by the substantive law of the Republic of Austria excluding the conflict-of-law rules of international private law and excluding the provisions laid down in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Place of jurisdiction for any disputes arising from this agreement shall be the relevant court in Vienna, Inner City. In the event of lawsuits taken against users who are consumers as defined by the Consumer Protection Act, this shall be the court having jurisdiction over the customer’s place of residence, permanent place of residence or workplace pursuant to § 14 Consumer Protection Act.

(1) The subject matter of the general terms and conditions of use (hereafter referred to as "terms of use" is the use of the "Online Account" for business customers (hereafter referred to as "Online Account"), which is made available online by VERBUND Sales GmbH (hereafter referred to as "VSA") at www.verbund.at. 

(2) The "Online Account" is available for free use only to customers of VSA, who are consumers in compliance with the Consumer Protection Act (hereafter referred to as "user"). The use of the "Online Account" is provided for the user's own benefit only; commercial use, especially the transmission of data to third parties, with or without payments, is prohibited. Use is permissible and possible only upon registration and access activation by the user. Initial and continued access of the "Online Account" does not constitute a right of the user's. 

(3) Terms of use shall apply for current and future services in connection with the "Online Account". Individual services may be subject to specific conditions of use and/or agreement. Moreover, specific user information in the different service areas of the "Online Account" is to be paid attention to.

(4) In the event of discrepancies, specific conditions of use and/or agreement shall prevail before general terms and conditions.

VSA is entitled to change its Terms of Use and/or the scope of its online services offered through the "Online Account" at any time. Users are notified online via their "Online Account" or in any other suitable electronic way in due time.

VSA will send the access data necessary for using the Online Account personally to the user by post or e-mail. The use of individual services may lead to further registration requirements. The access data may only be used by the user. Transferring such data to others is not permitted.

(1) In the course of Online Account user administration, users can assign rights to other persons to use the Online Account (in the context of Power Supply Agreements). In such cases, the Terms of Use governing the Online Account shall automatically apply to the new user upon assignment of such authorisation. The user granting the right shall have the duty to ensure that any newly authorised users are made aware of these Terms of Use. Any further authorisation assignment shall exclusively be the responsibility of the user. VSA shall assume no liability or responsibility for such assignment of rights. The authorised users are listed in the "User Administration" area.

(2) VSA is entitled to object to the transfer of rights of use relating to the Online Account and may – in individual cases – cancel already granted rights.

(1) Upon termination of your Power Supply Agreement, access to the Online Account will be deactivated.

(2) VSA shall be entitled to block access to the Online Account with immediate effect on substantial grounds. Such substantial grounds are given, in particular, in the event of a breach of the Terms of Use, if ordered by authorities or courts, in the event of failure to pay under the Power Supply Agreement following an unsuccessful reminder, in the event of loss of access data (username, password) or if there are other circumstances that indicate unlawful use of the Online Account.

(3) Users can unsubscribe from the Online Account at any time in writing (by letter, fax, e-mail).

(4) VSA shall be entitled to discontinue the Online Account services at any time. Users will be informed of such an event in due time.

(5) If a user unsubscribes from the Online Account, or if access is deactivated due to the termination of the Power Supply Agreement or if the Online Account services are discontinued, all data stored therein (deal confirmations, power schedules and similar information) will be deleted from the Online Account database. Users are independently responsible for saving any data or documents they might require for further use in good time.

(6) The user shall be notified of a blocked access to, deactivation of or discontinuation of the Online Account services by e-mail (sent to the e-mail address last made known).

(1) When using the Online Account on the Internet, the user must apply the greatest possible care and ensure the use of adequate security precautions, specifically of an antivirus programme, observe all of the relevant laws or other legal regulations, in particular industrial property rights and copyrights, and not to enter or transmit any such data or information that would be contrary to morality.

(2) The user shall have the duty to keep access data (username, password and similar) secret and not to forward them to third parties. In the event of loss of access data or if there is reason to suspect they are being used by an unauthorised person, the user shall have the duty to notify VSA immediately thereof, in writing, by telephone (call +43 (0)50313-51823) or by e-mail to business@verbund.at. VSA will have the access blocked as fast as possible and provide the user with new access data.

(3) The user must ensure that his/her contact data and any other data required to use the Online Account is always kept up to date, complete and correct. In the case of any changes and/or incorrect data, particularly of contact data such as e-mail address or similar, the user is required to notify VSA immediately thereof or, where possible, make such changes him/herself in the Online Account.

(4) The user must follow any user instructions provided in the various service areas. The user is required to check any typed in data for completeness and correctness after it has been entered.

(5) User rights assigned in the context of user administration in the Online Account may only be within the scope absolutely necessary, and must take into account the provisions agreed in the Power Supply Agreement.

(6) The user shall indemnify and hold harmless VSA against any claims from third parties due to the violation of the mentioned obligations, as well as in the event of unlawful behaviour in connection with the registration or with the assignment of further rights of use.

(1) VERBUND Sales GmbH will digitally store and process any data made known by users in the context of their use of the Online Account, taking into account the currently applicable statutory regulations specified in the Data Protection Act for the contractually agreed purpose, and for its own marketing purposes, and shall only forward such data to involved third parties to the extent absolutely necessary to fulfil the contract.

(2) The user expressly consents to receiving information and advertising materials via e-mail sent by VERBUND AG and VERBUND Sales GmbH. This consent can be revoked at any time.

(1) VSA shall make every effort to operate the Online Account continuously, and to ensure its accessibility, depending on the available technical, economical, operational and organisational possibilities. It is not possible to guarantee the continuous availability of the Online Account.

(2) VSA is entitled to interrupt access to the Online Account for a reasonable period of time for important reasons, such as service and maintenance work.

(3) VSA shall assume no liability for any periods of inaccessibility due to technical or any other type of problems.

(1) VSA’s liability for damages shall be limited to events caused by wilful intent or gross negligence and to the amount of EUR 1,500.00 per case of damage. Any liability for loss of profit or revenues, loss of interest, lost output, savings that have not been achieved, lost or changed data, indirect damages or damages resulting from claims of third parties shall be excluded. Claims for damages shall become time-barred within one year from the event of damage.

(2) VSA shall not be liable for any damages arising from misuse or inappropriate use of the Online Account, incomplete or inaccurate information or non-observance of due diligence requirements as specified in the Terms of Use on the part of the user. Any liability for damages arising from third parties gaining knowledge of username and password due to the user’s violation of the due diligence obligations shall also be excluded.

(3) For damages arising from "force majeure" and/or other incidents not accounted for by VSA, VSA shall not be held liable. This includes, in particular: technical problems, court orders, dispositions and the like.

(4) In the "online account" feature, VSA also offers services that are provided, transmitted or otherwise made available by third parties. This type of service is identified accordingly. For such services, VSA shall assume no liability.

These provisions are governed exclusively by the substantive law of the Republic of Austria excluding the conflict-of-law rules of international private law and excluding the provisions laid down in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Place of jurisdiction for any disputes arising from this agreement shall be the relevant court in Vienna, Inner City.

(1) Amendments or supplements to these Terms of Use including this provision shall be in writing. Unless otherwise agreed in these Terms of Use, the requirement of written form is also met by a digitally signed e-mail.

(2) The content (texts, images, graphics or similar) and structure and design of the Online Services are protected under copyright and/or trademark law. Any utilisation or use is not permitted without approval of Verbund. The utilisation or use of explicitly offered materials is excluded therefrom.

(3) Should any individual provisions of these Terms of Use be or become totally or partially ineffective or incomplete, this shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining provisions or parts of such provisions. The invalid provision shall be deemed as replaced by such valid provision that as closely as possible reflects the economic purpose of the invalid provision.