What is the current state of the discussion on indexation clauses in rental agreements?

Especially since recent ORF reports (in particular Report of 22 July 2025), there has been widespread alarm about a possible obligation for landlords to refund indexation increases to tenants, possibly even retroactively to the start of the tenancy. 

A sober look at the current situation gives the following picture: 

The discussion began two years ago with judgments in association proceedings (put briefly, these are not about the individual payment claims of a single tenant, but about the general, abstract validity of standard rental agreement provisions or breaches of consumer protection law). Two clauses in particular were found to be unlawful: 

First, the index succession clause (which index applies if the CPI is no longer published), and second, a missing two-month clause, i.e. a provision that expressly excludes an increase for the first two months of the contract. 

Special rules apply to the courts in these association proceedings, in particular the principle of the "interpretation most hostile to the customer" of the contract provision under review and the exclusion of "validity-preserving reduction" (that is: an invalid provision is not to be reduced to the permissible extent). 

The situation is different in individual proceedings, i.e. when an individual tenant claims repayment of paid index increases from the landlord. So far there are only a few relevant individual proceedings, and the decisions available to date give landlords reason for (cautious) optimism in many cases. 

As for the ruling of the Constitutional Court (VfGH) that made waves in July 2025, it should be noted that this ruling has no particular significance for the state of the discussion. It merely clarified that the relevant statutory provisions on consumer protection in Austria are not unconstitutional. A different outcome was realistically not to be expected. 

The federal government already announced in its government programme, and again on the occasion of the Constitutional Court decision in recent weeks, that it will enact a statutory regulation on this topic, which should be awaited first. Such a regulation was announced for the coming autumn. 

The claims now arriving from individual tenants must be examined case by case, in light of the specific statutory framework (full application of the MRG? application of the KSchG?) and the indexation arrangements agreed in the individual case. At least until the statutory regulation is available, any tenant claim raised now will only have to be granted in exceptional cases. 

It remains exciting, and we will keep you up to date. 

In view of the discussion on indexation, we have also revised our rental agreement templates, largely in line with the recommendations of the Austrian Economic Chamber.