Service fee

The fee is a matter for the representation agreement, and the agreement is invalid without stating it. That much is settled.

Almost everything else about how the fee is paid is currently unsettled. The regulations set out a client-pays principle, under which the fee is paid exclusively by the agent's own client and the client may not authorise a third party to pay it, with a single exception: where an agent represents an individual whose negotiated annual remuneration is below USD 200,000, excluding conditional payments, the engaging entity may agree to pay the fee on the individual's behalf. That exception carries conditions, including that the arrangement must not affect the agent's fiduciary duty to the individual or create any dependency on the engaging entity.

Note: this provision is currently suspended worldwide until further notice, following a preliminary injunction granted by the Landgericht Dortmund. Check its status before relying on it.

The suspension covers the service fee cap in article 15 and much of article 14, including the client-pays rule itself. So a figure quoted as "the cap" is describing a provision that is not currently in force, and national regulations differ because associations were recommended to suspend their equivalents. The practical position is that the agreement governs, and the regulatory position is worth rechecking rather than assumed.