In the future, the Stiftung Warentest will have to do without federal funds
Source: pa / dpa / Christoph Soeder
In 2021, Germans were most annoyed about inflation and fuel prices. But travel, renting and unwanted advertising calls also cause frustration. Citizens receive help, among other things, from the Stiftung Warentest, which will soon have to refinance itself.
Rand one in four consumers was most annoyed by the high inflation last year, as were the rise in fuel prices. This is the result of a representative survey by the online cancellation service Aboalarm, the results of which are exclusively available to WELT AM SONNTAG. On the other hand, about one in seven named the high gas and electricity costs as the biggest consumer annoyance in 2021.
Problems with vacation and travel caused by the corona pandemic, on the other hand, caused the greatest frustration for eight percent or the equivalent of every twelfth consumer. This is followed by issues such as rent, unwanted sales calls and e-mails as well as bank fees and negative interest rates, shows the survey in which 1036 Germans were asked about their biggest consumer annoyance of the past year.
Affected people get help on many topics from the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (VZBV), among others. The umbrella organization of the 16 consumer centers in the individual can hope for more money from the state in the future. It is currently planned that the VZBV should receive around 23.8 million euros in 2022, as the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection announced on WELT AM SONNTAG demand. That is half a million euros more than last year.
The Stiftung Warentest, on the other hand, should no longer receive any annual grants from the federal government from 2024. In this financial year, the organization will probably only receive a subsidy of 970,000 euros, and next year it will be 490,000 euros for the last time. However, the budget process has not yet been completed, the ministry emphasized. From now on, Stiftung Warentest is to be financed from the proceeds of the recently increased foundation capital.
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