Billing third parties by the kilowatt-hour falls under the Eichrecht.
What it covers at the charge point, who it applies to and where CPIM stands.
Measured wherever money changes hands
Where a quantity is billed, that quantity has to be verifiable.
The same idea governs the petrol pump, the scales in a supermarket and the charge point.
The German rules live in the measurement and calibration act and the ordinance beneath it.
They set out how a reading is produced and how long it stays traceable.
The verification authorities of the federal states supervise all of it.
The party being protected is the one paying the bill.
What it covers at the charge point
The meter sits inside the charging station and is part of its type approval.
That approval covers the whole chain from the reading to the display.
The station adds a signature to its readings.
The signed value is stored and can later be opened with dedicated checking software.
A customer can hold an invoice against the reading that way.
The invoice carries the start, the end and the meter readings of the session.
The price per kilowatt-hour has to be visible before charging begins.
Whether a station offers all of this is stated in its data sheet.
Who it applies to
It applies to anyone charging third parties for electricity by the kilowatt-hour.
A tenant in an underground car park is a third party. So is a guest in a hotel car park.
It equally applies to anyone passing charging costs on to another company.
Charging your own vehicles and passing nothing on keeps you outside the question.
Placing your own case belongs with professional advice.
What this means for you
The question is settled when you buy the charging station.
The station brings the required approval with it. A backend cannot add it later.
Ask for it explicitly at the point of purchase and have the answer in writing.
For stations already installed, the rating plate and the data sheet are the place to look.
If the station is leased, the question goes to the lessor.
How CPIM handles it
CPIM reads the meter readings the station reports and files them with the session.
Every session carries its start, its end, its meter reading and its price into the report.
The values are kept exactly as the station reported them.
That is the basis for your billing. The export goes to your accounting as an Excel file.
Billing third parties in Germany?
Tell us which stations are in place and we will show you the report that goes with them.
Prefer e-mail? info@dstech-it.de