As of: January 30, 2024, 6:48 a.m
By: Sandra Sporer
Comments
Press
Split
Every month there are minor and major changes that consumers should be aware of.
Spotify, among other things, will become more expensive in February 2024.
Munich – When it comes to finances, there will be some minor and major changes in February 2024.
Owners of solar systems that feed electricity into the network will be disappointed: they will receive less money per kilowatt hour in the future.
These are the changes at a glance:
The price of electricity fed in from solar systems is falling
Retirement for some age groups
New regulation of additional payments in pharmacies
Deadline for approval of Spotify's price increase ends
New regulation for substitute imprisonment
From February 2024, one percent less solar power fed in per kilowatt hour
Anyone who produces excess solar power can feed it into the power grid and receive corresponding compensation for doing so.
The previous compensation rate was 8.2 cents.
However, systems up to 10 kWp will only receive 8.11 cents from next month, as the consumer advice center informs.
For systems with more than 10kWp, everything that goes beyond 10kWp is paid 7.03 cents per kilowatt hour.
For these cohorts, retirement will begin in February 2024
A big change is coming for some workers in February - they can retire.
Everyone born between January 2nd, 1958 and February 1st, 1958 can claim the standard old-age pension without any deductions.
Anyone who claims an old-age pension for severely disabled people and was born between May 2, 1962 and June 1, 1962 can retire in February with a discount of 10.8 percent.
In addition, those who have been insured for a long time can start their pension for the first time.
This is possible for people born between January 2nd, 1961 and February 1st, 1961.
With a waiting period of 35 years, this is possible with a deduction of 12.6 percent of the regular pension.
If the waiting period is 45 years, the pension can be claimed without deduction.
There will be changes in February 2024, and not just in the co-payments for medication.
(Symbolic image) © Alfonso Saenz/IMAGO
Changes when purchasing medication: Simpler regulations for co-payments
Consumers will also experience something new when purchasing medication at the pharmacy.
Namely when it comes to additional payments.
These should be simplified by means of a new legal regulation.
My news
Hundreds of thousands will receive birthday money from the state from March - who will receive the payment and how read
Gross misjudgment by Green Party leader Ricarda Lang – faux pas fuels discussion about pensions. Read again
Trick for the winter: That's why you should have a tennis ball in the garden read
“A wave is building up”: Auto Pope Dudenhöffer with bitter forecast for electric cars
Asterisk for driver's license class A - what it means read
20-second rule on motorways in Germany: Why everyone should know it read
In the future, the additional payment will be based on the pack size.
This means that the additional payment for two small packs is the same as for one large pack with the same amount of contents.
Spotify is increasing its prices – the deadline for approval is February
Spotify had already announced that it would increase prices in autumn 2023.
The deadline by which customers must have agreed to the price increase ends at the end of February.
If this does not happen, the account will be downgraded to the free version of Spotify with advertising.
Anyone who cannot pay a fine must instead serve a substitute prison sentence.
There will be an important change in the calculation of detention days in February 2024.
(Symbolic image) © Frank Molter/dpa/Symbolic image
Change to the substitute prison sentence - in the future, a daily rate will no longer be the same as one day in prison
The change to the substitute prison sentence was actually supposed to come into force in October 2023.
However, as
Focus
reports, there was a delay because the IT changeover took longer than expected.
However, the change has now been made and the new regulation will come into force from February.
It concerns the conversion of the fine into days of imprisonment.
Previously, a daily rate corresponded to one day in prison.
In the future, however, two daily rates will be converted into one day of detention, as the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) informs.
“This change aims to halve the duration of substitute prison sentences actually carried out, since their execution generally cannot contribute to the resocialization of those affected,” says the BMJ.
More consumer rights through the Digital Service Act (DSA)
The Digital Service Act has been in effect for large online platforms and search engines since August 2023. However, it is now being expanded again and will apply to all digital services from February.
It is intended to make it easier to report illegal content and user complaints in general.
The DSA also comes with strict data protection rules.
This includes, among other things, that sensitive data may no longer be used for advertising purposes.
There is also a ban on advertising that is specifically aimed at minors.
(
sp
)