IrelandDigital Services Act 2024, Part 3 (Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as Competent Authority for Articles 30 to 32)
Digital Services Act 2024 (No. 2 of 2024), Part 3
In force since .
A transparency and process rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Disclosure, Licensing
As of .
What it requires
- If you are a provider of an online platform whose main establishment is in Ireland, whose legal representative under Article 13(1) of the Digital Services Regulation is in Ireland, or which must designate a legal representative under Article 13(1) and has not done so, comply with Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Digital Services Regulation: the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is the competent authority for them.
- Comply with a compliance notice served on you for an infringement of Article 30, 31 or 32 by the date the notice specifies, which may not be earlier than the end of the 14 days in which you may appeal the notice to the District Court.
- If the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission gives you a notice under section 54 of the Digital Services Act 2024 during an investigation, take the measures it requires to avoid or reduce a risk of serious harm by the date the notice states.
- If the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission gives you a notice under section 73 to end an infringement of Article 30, 31 or 32, take the steps the notice states within the period it states.
- If you provide an online platform allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders, pay the levy that a levy order made by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission under section 45A of the Digital Services Act 2024 imposes on you, and keep and make available to it the records the levy order requires.
- Do not give the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission information that you know to be false or misleading when complying with a requirement imposed by or under a levy order.
- If you have entered into a commitment agreement with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission under section 79, comply with it.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a notice requiring interim measures under section 54, or with a notice to end a contravention under section 73, is a category 1 offence, punishable on summary conviction by a class A fine or imprisonment for up to 12 months or both, and on conviction on indictment by a fine of up to €500,000 or imprisonment for up to 10 years or both. Failing to comply with a compliance notice by its due date is an offence punishable on summary conviction by a class B fine or imprisonment for up to 6 months or both. Giving the Commission information known to be false or misleading in purported compliance with a levy order is a category 2 offence, punishable on summary conviction by a class A fine or imprisonment for up to 12 months or both, and on conviction on indictment by a fine of up to €50,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years or both.
Penalty structure
Section 67(1) of the Digital Services Act 2024 limits an administrative financial sanction for an infringement of Article 30, 31 or 32, and for failing to comply with an interim measures notice or a commitment agreement, to 6 per cent of the inquiry subject's annual turnover in the financial year preceding the decision. Section 67(2) limits a sanction for the matters in paragraph (b) of the definition of contravention, which include obstructing or misleading an authorised officer, to one per cent of annual income or turnover. Section 74(4) limits a daily payment penalty to 5 per cent of average daily turnover for each day the failure continues.
- Rule
- Turnover pct only
- As of
- Turnover percentage cap
- 6
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, designated by section 44 as the competent authority for Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Digital Services Regulation; the High Court for an access blocking order (section 77) and the District Court for an appeal against a compliance notice (section 78).
What this law does
Section 44 designates the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, for the purposes of Article 49(1), as the competent authority in respect of Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Digital Services Regulation.
A relevant provider is a provider of an online platform whose main establishment is located in the State, one to which Article 13(1) applies and whose legal representative resides or is established in the State, or one to which Article 13(1) applies that has failed to designate a legal representative.
Section 67(1) provides that an administrative financial sanction for an infringement of Article 30, 31 or 32 shall not exceed 6 per cent of the annual turnover of the inquiry subject in the financial year preceding the decision. Section 67(2) limits the sanction to one per cent of annual income or turnover for the matters in paragraph (b) of that definition, which include obstructing or misleading an authorised officer in a Digital Services investigation.
Section 74 limits the daily payment penalty for failing to comply with a notice to end a contravention to 5 per cent of the provider's average daily turnover in the preceding financial year for each day the failure continues. Section 77 lets the Commission, in the circumstances that section sets out, apply to the High Court for an order requiring a relevant provider to block access in the State to an intermediary service.
Section 78 lets an authorised officer serve a compliance notice on a relevant provider that has infringed Article 30, 31 or 32. A provider may appeal a compliance notice to the District Court not later than 14 days after service of the notice. A provider that fails to comply with a compliance notice by the due date commits an offence punishable on summary conviction by a class B fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.
Failure without reasonable excuse to comply with a notice requiring interim measures under section 54, or with a notice to end a contravention under section 73, is a category 1 offence. A category 1 offence under Part 3 is punishable on summary conviction by a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, and on conviction on indictment by a fine not exceeding €500,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.
Section 79 lets the Commission enter into a written commitment agreement with a relevant provider to address any issue relating to compliance with Article 30, 31 or 32. Section 45A, inserted by the Digital Services (Levy) Act 2024, lets the Commission make an order imposing a levy on consumer online platform providers. In that section consumer online platform providers means providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders.
A levy order is to provide for requirements on providers subject to the levy to keep relevant records and to make them available to the Commission. Section 45B makes it a category 2 offence to provide the Commission, in purported compliance with a requirement imposed by or under a levy order, with information that the person knows to be false or misleading.
A category 2 offence under Part 3 is punishable on summary conviction by a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, and on conviction on indictment by a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates an app store or operates a social platform.