Certain owners of diesel-powered VW and Skoda models in the Czech republic have received a favorable ruling from a Prague district court and will now qualify for 533 million crowns ($23.3 million) in compensation following VW’s diesel emissions scandal.
The suit was filed by Safe Diesel on behalf of 2,435 people, and the decision is open to appeal, but only on procedural grounds, reports Autonews Europe. VW meanwhile stated that an appeal would indeed be launched.
“It is a breakthrough in the European branch of the affair,” said Safe Diesel lawyer Frantisek Honsa in an official statement. “We managed to push through the same compensation as in the United States.”
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The Prague ruling dates back to March 22, yet was only recently released. Apparently, the compensation demand was upheld without a court hearing as the Volkswagen Group failed to deliver any objections to the demands as per the court-mandated deadline.
As for Skoda, the Czech brand was also part of the suit, yet continues to maintain that owners of affected vehicles did not suffer any damage.
In the end, while the ruling only covered an initial 2,435 claimants, Safe Diesel say that more than 7,000 people have made claims, with 165,000 vehicles affected by the emissions scandal in the Czech Republic alone.
In total, VW has been forced to pay more than $31 billion (27 billion euros) in penalties since September of 2015, when it admitted to having cheated U.S. diesel emissions tests through the use of illegal software.
