CyprusLaw 57(I)/2024 on the Accessibility of Products and Services, accessibility requirements for service providers, microenterprise exemption and transitional rules
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide to consumers an electronic communications service (other than machine-to-machine transmission), a service giving access to audiovisual media services, the websites, mobile services and applications, electronic tickets and travel information of air, bus, rail or waterborne passenger transport (and, for urban, suburban and regional transport, the interactive self-service terminals), a consumer banking service, an e-book or its dedicated software, or an e-commerce service, make the service meet the accessibility requirements in Annex I of the Law (Arts. 4(2), 5(1) and 5(3); Directive Arts. 2(2) and 4(3)).
- Meet Section III of Annex I, except for urban, suburban and regional transport services: make the products you use to provide the service accessible, give information on how the service works, its accessibility features and its interoperability with assistive devices through more than one sensory channel in an understandable and perceivable form, make your websites, related online applications, mobile device services and mobile applications consistently and adequately accessible so that users can perceive, use and understand them and rely on them, and have your support services (help desks, call centres, technical support, relay and training services), where you have them, give information on the service's accessibility and its compatibility with assistive technologies in accessible formats (Annex I, Section III(α) to (δ)).
- Meet Section IV of Annex I for the kind of service you provide. Electronic communications: offer real-time text in addition to voice, offer total conversation where video is provided, and keep emergency communications synchronised and routed to the most appropriate PSAP. Audiovisual media access services: provide electronic programme guides that are perceivable, usable, understandable and reliable and that show the availability of accessibility, and transmit subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, audio description, spoken subtitles and sign language interpretation with adequate quality and synchronisation (Annex I, Section IV(α) and (β)).
- Passenger transport (air, bus, rail, waterborne): give information on the accessibility of vehicles, surrounding infrastructure and the built environment and on assistance for persons with disabilities, and give information on smart ticketing, real-time travel information and supplementary service information; for urban, suburban and regional transport, make the self-service terminals you use accessible under Section I (Annex I, Section IV(γ) and (δ)).
- Consumer banking: offer identification methods, electronic signatures, security and payment services that users can perceive, use and understand and rely on, and give information that does not exceed level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Annex I, Section IV(ε)).
- E-books: provide synchronised text and audio where an e-book has both, do not let digital files obstruct assistive technology, allow access to and navigation of content and file layout and alternative renderings, make e-books findable through accessibility metadata, and do not let digital rights management obstruct accessibility features (Annex I, Section IV(στ)).
- E-commerce: give the accessibility information on the products and services sold where the responsible operator provides it, make the identification, security and payment function accessible where it is part of the service, and offer identification methods, electronic signatures and payment services that users can perceive, use and understand and rely on (Annex I, Section IV(ζ)).
- Draw up the information required by Annex III, explain how the services meet the applicable accessibility requirements, make the information available to the public in written and oral form, including in a manner accessible to persons with disabilities, and keep it for as long as the service is in operation; include it in your general terms and conditions or an equivalent document, in addition to the consumer information that Directive 2011/83/EU requires, with a general description of the service in an accessible format, the descriptions needed to understand how it works, and a description of how it meets the requirements of Annex I (Art. 14(β); Annex III, point 1; Directive Art. 13(2)).
- Have procedures so that the provision of services stays in conformity with the applicable accessibility requirements, taking due account of changes in the characteristics of the service, in the applicable requirements and in the harmonised standards or technical specifications on which conformity is declared (Art. 14(γ)).
- If a service does not conform, take the corrective measures needed to bring it into conformity and inform the competent authority at once, with details of the non-conformity and the measures taken; on a reasoned request give the competent authority and the accessibility surveillance authorities the information needed to show conformity and cooperate with them on the measures taken (Art. 14(δ) and (ε)).
- Assess whether compliance would require a significant change that fundamentally alters the basic nature of the service or would impose a disproportionate burden by the criteria in Annex IV; document the assessment, keep the results for five years from the last time the service was provided, and give the authorities a copy on request (Art. 15(2) and (3)).
- Renew the disproportionate-burden assessment for each category or type of service when the service is altered, when the authorities ask, and at least every five years (Art. 15(5)).
- Inform the competent authority when you rely on the fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden defence for a particular service, unless you are a microenterprise (Art. 15(7)); if you receive funding from sources other than your own resources, public or private, provided for the purpose of improving accessibility, you cannot rely on the disproportionate burden defence (Art. 15(6)).
- You may continue to provide services using products you lawfully used for similar services before until ; service contracts agreed before may continue unchanged until they expire and for no more than five years from that date; self-service terminals lawfully used before may stay in use until the end of their economically useful life and for no more than 20 years from first use (Art. 45).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Article 38 makes it an offence to make available on the market a product or service that does not comply with the Law, to disregard a withdrawal, recall or destruction notice served under Article 34, to issue or use a certificate or other document without approval or without following the proper procedure, or to give false, misleading or inaccurate details or documents to the authorities. A first conviction carries imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to EUR 20,000 or both, and a second or later conviction imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to EUR 30,000 or both.
Penalty structure
Article 38 sets the highest fine in the Law: on a second or later conviction, imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to EUR 30,000 or both, and on a first conviction imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to EUR 20,000 or both, whether or not an administrative fine is imposed. Article 36(1) lets the competent authority impose an administrative fine of up to EUR 10,000 on a person who commits any of the infringements listed in Article 35, and of up to EUR 20,000 for a later infringement. Article 36(2) lets it impose a fine of up to EUR 500 for each day a fined infringement continues, according to its gravity, and the text states no total for the daily fines. Article 37(1) sets the amount by the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 30,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare (Υφυπουργός Κοινωνικής Πρόνοιας), the competent authority under Article 3(1), which imposes the administrative fines, with the departments and services of the public service that the Council of Ministers designates under Article 3(3) as accessibility surveillance authorities
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a provider of a service listed in Article 4(2) of the Law that is provided to consumers, a consumer being a natural person who buys a product or is the recipient of a service for purposes unrelated to the person's trade, business, craft or profession
- not a microenterprise, which Article 2 defines as an enterprise that employs fewer than ten (10) employees and whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 2,000,000 or whose total annual balance sheet does not exceed EUR 2,000,000; Article 5(5) exempts such a microenterprise from the service accessibility requirements and from any other obligation relating to compliance with them
What this law does
Article 4(2) applies the Law to the listed services that are provided to consumers from .
The listed services are electronic communications services other than machine-to-machine transmission services, services providing access to audiovisual media services, the websites, mobile services, electronic tickets and transport information of air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport together with interactive self-service terminals, consumer banking services, e-books and dedicated software, and e-commerce services.
For urban, suburban and regional transport services the Law applies only to the interactive self-service terminals. For passenger transport information screens, Article 4(2) covers only interactive screens within the territory of the Union. For passenger transport self-service terminals, Article 4(2) covers only interactive terminals within the territory of the Union, other than those installed as integral parts of vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock.
A consumer is a natural person who buys a product or receives a service for purposes unrelated to the person's trade, business, craft or profession. Consumer banking services are credit agreements within Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU, investment services within the points of Directive 2014/65/EU that Article 2 names, payment services, services linked to payment accounts, and electronic money.
Article 4(4) excludes from the Law pre-recorded time-based media and office file formats published before , online maps and mapping services where the essential navigation information is accessible, third-party content that the operator does not fund, develop or control, and archived content. Article 4(5) applies the Law subject to Directive (EU) 2017/1564 and Regulation (EU) 2017/1563.
Article 5(3) requires all services to meet Section IV of Annex I and, other than urban, suburban and regional transport services, Section III of Annex I. Section III of Annex I requires consistent and adequate accessibility of websites, related online applications, mobile device services and mobile applications.
Section IV of Annex I requires consumer banking services to offer identification methods, electronic signatures, security and payment services that users can perceive, use and understand and rely on, and to give information that does not exceed level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Section IV of Annex I requires services giving access to audiovisual media services to provide electronic programme guides that are perceivable, usable, understandable and reliable, and to transmit subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, audio description, spoken subtitles and sign language interpretation with adequate quality and synchronisation.
Section IV of Annex I requires e-commerce services to provide the accessibility information on the products and services sold where the responsible economic operator supplies it, to make the identification, security and payment function accessible where it is part of the service rather than of a product, and to offer accessible identification methods, electronic signatures and payment services.
Article 5(5) exempts microenterprises that provide services from those requirements and from any other obligation relating to compliance with them. Article 2 defines a microenterprise by its number of employees and by its annual turnover or its annual balance sheet total. Article 4(5) of the Directive exempts microenterprises providing services from the service requirements and from any obligations relating to compliance with them.
Article 5(6) requires the competent authority to give guidelines and tools to microenterprises. Article 5(4) has the competent authority specify by Notification in the Official Gazette measures for adapting the built environment related to the services. Article 4(4) of the Directive lets a Member State decide that the built environment used by clients of covered services must meet the requirements of Annex III to the Directive.
Article 14 requires each service provider to design and provide services in accordance with the accessibility requirements of the Law. Article 14 requires a provider to draw up the information required by Annex III, explain how the services meet the requirements and make it available to the public in written and oral form, including in a way accessible to persons with disabilities.
Annex III requires the provider to include that information in its general terms and conditions or an equivalent document, in addition to the consumer information that Directive 2011/83/EU requires, with a general description of the service in an accessible format, the descriptions needed to understand how it works, and a description of how it meets the requirements of Annex I. Article 14 requires a provider to have procedures so that the provision of services stays in conformity, taking account of changes in the service and in the applicable requirements and standards.
Article 14 requires a provider whose service does not conform to take the corrective measures needed and to inform the competent authority at once. Article 14 requires a provider to give the competent authority and the accessibility surveillance authorities the information needed to show conformity on a reasoned request, and to cooperate with them.
Article 15(1) applies the accessibility requirements only to the extent that compliance does not require a significant change resulting in a fundamental alteration of the basic nature of the product or service and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operators. Article 14(1) of the Directive applies the accessibility requirements only to the extent that compliance does not require a fundamental alteration and does not impose a disproportionate burden.
Article 15(3) requires operators to document the assessment and keep the results for five years. Article 15(5) requires a service provider that relies on the disproportionate burden defence to renew its assessment for each category or type of service when the service changes, when the authorities ask, and at least every five years.
Article 15(6) bars an operator that receives funding from other sources for the purpose of improving accessibility from relying on the disproportionate burden defence. Article 15(7) requires an operator other than a microenterprise that relies on Article 15(1) for a particular product or service to inform the competent authority.
Article 16(1) presumes that products and services that conform to harmonised standards, or parts of them, whose references the Official Journal of the European Union publishes meet the accessibility requirements to the extent the standards cover them. Article 16(2) gives the same presumption to conformity with technical specifications that the European Commission adopts under Article 15 of the Directive.
Article 25(2) presumes that a product or service whose features, elements or functions meet Section VI of Annex I fulfils the accessibility obligations in other Union acts for those features, elements or functions, unless those acts provide otherwise. Article 6 treats services that meet the accessible-information requirements of the passenger rights regulations as conforming to the corresponding requirements of the Law, except where the Law adds requirements.
Article 45(1) provides a transitional period ending on in which service providers may keep providing their services using products they lawfully used for similar services before that date. Article 45(1) lets service contracts agreed before continue without change until they expire, and for five years at most from that date.
Article 45(2) lets self-service terminals lawfully used before stay in use for similar services until the end of their economically useful life, and for twenty years at most from the start of their use. Article 32(2) of the Directive lets a Member State allow self-service terminals lawfully used before to stay in use for no longer than twenty years after their entry into use.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface, ships a mobile app, provides telecom services or provides financial services.
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