EstoniaAccessibility of Products and Services Act, fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden: assessment, documentation, notification and review
§§ 4 lg 5, 5 ja 18 lg 2, Toodete ja teenuste ligipääsetavuse seadus (RT I, 15.06.2022, 1)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- If you doubt that bringing a product or service into line with a requirement is possible without fundamentally altering its basic nature or without a disproportionate burden on you, assess that burden using the criteria of Social Affairs Minister Regulation No. 46 (ss. 4(5) and 5(1) and (6); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(1) and (2)).
- Document the assessment and keep the results for five years from the last time the product was made available on the market or the service was last provided; a microenterprise dealing with products need not document it (s. 5(2); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(3) and (4)).
- If you provide a service and rely on disproportionate burden, assess it again when the service is changed, when TTJA requests it and when five years have passed since the assessment (s. 5(3); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(5)).
- Do not rely on disproportionate burden if you are funded for the purpose of improving accessibility from resources other than your own (s. 5(4); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(6)).
- If the assessment shows that one or more requirements cannot be applied to you, notify TTJA and give it the documented result of the assessment on request; a microenterprise dealing with products gives TTJA, on request, the facts relevant to the assessment (s. 5(5); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(8)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
A precept of TTJA on this duty can be backed by a penalty payment (sunniraha), and section 19 of the LPS sets its ceiling at EUR 10,000.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 10,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet, TTJA), the supervisory authority under section 16 of the LPS
What this law does
Section 4(5) applies the accessibility requirements to a product or service only to the extent that complying does not require a significant change that fundamentally alters its basic nature and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the business. Section 3(1) defines a business for the purposes of the Act as a manufacturer, authorized representative, importer, distributor or service provider.
Section 5(1) requires a business that suspects that bringing a product or service into line with one or more requirements may fundamentally alter it or impose a disproportionate burden to assess that burden. Section 5(2) requires a business, other than a microenterprise dealing with products, to document the assessment and keep the results for five years from the last time the product was made available on the market or the service was last provided.
Section 5(3) requires a service provider that relies on disproportionate burden to assess it again when the service is changed, when TTJA requests it and when five years have passed since the assessment. Section 5(4) provides that a business funded for the purpose of improving accessibility from resources other than its own is not entitled to rely on disproportionate burden.
Section 5(5) requires a business, other than a microenterprise dealing with products, that finds after the assessment that one or more requirements cannot be applied to it to notify TTJA and to give it the documented result of the assessment on request. Section 5(5) also requires a microenterprise dealing with products to give TTJA, on request, the facts relevant to the assessment.
Section 18(2) gives TTJA the right to check whether a business that relies on fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden has made the assessment, to review its results and the correct use of the assessment criteria, and to check conformity with the applicable requirements. Section 5(6) has the minister responsible set by regulation the criteria for assessing a business's disproportionate burden and the procedure for notifying that requirements are not applied. Section 19 of the LPS sets the ceiling of the penalty payment for a precept that is not complied with at EUR 10,000.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface, ships a mobile app, provides telecom services, provides financial services or distributes a software product.
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