LithuaniaAccessibility Act, services: duties of service providers, the very small enterprise exemption, market surveillance and fines
Nr. XIV-1633 2 str. 4, 6–8 d., 3, 6, 7, 13–15, 20–28, 30 str. ir 1 priedas, Gaminių ir paslaugų prieinamumo reikalavimų įstatymas (paslaugos)
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), an audiovisual media access service, the website, mobile-device, e-ticket, real-time travel information, information screen or self-service terminal elements of a passenger air, bus, waterborne or rail transport service, a consumer banking service, an e-book service with its software, or an e-commerce service, design and provide it to meet the accessibility requirements of Annex 1 (Art. 2(4), 7(1), 13(1)); the Act has applied since (Art. 30(1)).
- A very small enterprise that provides services is exempt from the accessibility requirements and from the duties tied to complying with them (Art. 7(1)); under Art. 3(10) and Article 3(3) of the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business that is an enterprise with fewer than 10 employees whose annual revenue does not exceed EUR 2 million or whose balance-sheet assets do not exceed EUR 2 million, and Article 2(7) of that Law defines an enterprise as a legal person carrying on economic activity.
- For urban and suburban transport services the requirements apply only to interactive self-service terminals that are not built into vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock (Art. 2(4), point 3).
- The service requirements for information screens apply only to interactive screens located in Lithuania, except screens built into vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock (Art. 2(4), point 3).
- Provide information about how the service operates, its accessibility characteristics and its interoperability with assistive devices in more than one sensory channel and in an understandable way, in text formats from which alternative formats can be generated, in a suitable font size and type with sufficient contrast and spacing, with non-text content supplemented by a text alternative (Annex 1, point 10.2).
- Make the websites (including related online applications) and the mobile-device services you provide, including mobile apps, consistently and adequately accessible: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (Annex 1, point 10.3).
- Make the products you use to provide the service accessible under points 2, 3 and 5 to 9 of Annex 1 (and point 4 where it applies), and where practicable give help desks, call centres, technical support, relay and training services accessible means of communication for information on the service's accessibility and its compatibility with assistive technologies (Annex 1, points 10.1, 10.4).
- For electronic communications services, provide real-time text alongside voice, total conversation where voice is combined with video, and emergency communications that are synchronised and relayed through the electronic communications providers to the Common Help Centre (Annex 1, point 11.1).
- For audiovisual media access services, provide electronic programme guides that are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust and carry information on accessibility options, and transmit accessibility components (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, audio description, spoken subtitles, sign language interpretation) with adequate quality, synchronised with sound and video, with user control of their display and use (Annex 1, point 11.2).
- For passenger air, bus, rail and waterborne transport services, give information on the accessibility of vehicles, surrounding infrastructure and the built environment and on assistance for persons with disabilities, and on smart ticketing, real-time passenger information and additional service information such as broken lifts or services temporarily unavailable (Annex 1, point 11.3).
- For consumer banking services, provide identification methods, electronic signatures, security and payment services that are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust, and give information in language of no higher than level B2 (Annex 1, point 11.5).
- For e-books, keep text and audio synchronised where both exist, do not let digital files or digital rights management block assistive technology or accessibility features, make content, navigation and format accessible, and give accessibility features in the metadata (Annex 1, point 11.6).
- For e-commerce services, give information on the accessibility of the products and services sold where the responsible operator provides it, and make identification, security and payment functions provided as services, and the identification methods, electronic signatures and payment services, perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (Annex 1, point 11.7).
- Where the requirements in Chapters I to V of Annex 1 do not cover a function of the product or the service, make it accessible by meeting the related functional performance criteria of Chapter VI; those criteria may replace a specific technical requirement only where they give equivalent or greater accessibility (Annex 1, points 15 to 17).
- State in the general terms of service (or an equivalent document) how the service meets the applicable accessibility requirements, describing those requirements and, where relevant, the design and operation of the service and how the provision process and its monitoring keep the service conforming; publish that information, provide it in writing and orally on request, in forms accessible to persons with disabilities, and keep it as long as the service is provided (Art. 13(2)).
- To meet the information duty of Art. 13(2) you may fully or partly apply harmonised standards and technical specifications whose references the EU has published in the Official Journal (Art. 13(3)).
- Put in place procedures that keep the service in conformity throughout its provision, taking account of changes in the service, in the accessibility requirements and in the harmonised standards or technical specifications relied on (Art. 13(4)).
- If the service does not conform, take the measures needed to bring it into conformity and inform the market surveillance authority at once, and no later than 5 working days after learning of it, with details of the non-conformity and the measures taken (Art. 13(5)).
- On the authority's reasoned request give it in writing, within the period it sets (not shorter than 3 working days), all the information and documents needed to show the service conforms, and cooperate in the actions taken to bring it into conformity (Art. 13(6)).
- The accessibility requirements apply only to the extent that compliance does not require a significant change that fundamentally alters the basic nature of the service and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the operator (Art. 14(1)).
- To rely on that limit, carry out the assessment against the criteria in Annex 2, document it, keep the report for 5 years after the service was last provided, and give the authority a copy in writing within the period it sets (not shorter than 3 working days) (Art. 14(2)-(3)).
- A service provider that relies on the limit renews the assessment for each category or type of service when the services offered change, when the authority asks, and at least every 5 years (Art. 14(5)).
- If you rely on the limit, send the information in the assessment report to the authority in writing, in the way it sets, at once and within 3 working days of the assessment; a very small enterprise is not bound by this duty (Art. 14(7)).
- You cannot rely on the disproportionate-burden limit if you receive funding for improving accessibility from other public or private sources rather than using your own resources (Art. 14(6)).
- Services that meet harmonised standards or technical specifications, or parts of them, whose references the EU has published in the Official Journal are presumed to meet the applicable accessibility requirements to the extent those standards or specifications cover them (Art. 15(1)-(2)).
- If the authority finds that the service does not meet the requirements, act within the reasonable period it sets (not shorter than 3 working days) to bring the service into conformity; if you do not, the authority orders you to stop providing the service (Art. 20(2)).
- During an inspection carry out the authority's lawful instructions and demands, give officials access to the territory, buildings and premises where the services are provided, appoint a person to take part, and give them the information, data and documents needed, whatever the medium (Art. 21(4)).
- Until you may keep providing similar services with products you lawfully used before the Act took effect, and a service contract concluded before stays valid unchanged until it ends, but no later than (Art. 30(3)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 23(1) sets a fine of EUR 500 to 2,500 for an economic operator that places on the market or supplies a product, or provides a service, that does not meet the accessibility requirements. Article 23(2) sets EUR 1,000 to 6,500 for disregarding the authority's ban or restriction on placing or supplying non-conforming products, or its order to withdraw, recall or destroy a product, or for continuing to provide a service after the authority has ordered it to stop. Article 23(3) sets EUR 2,500 to 15,000 where non-conforming products or services have harmed the health of a consumer or end user. Under Article 23(4) the fine is set at the mean of the minimum and the maximum, lowered toward the minimum for the mitigating circumstances and raised toward the maximum for the aggravating circumstances in Article 24, and the authority gives reasons for any adjustment. Article 23(6) allows a warning instead of a fine under Article 23(1) where a non-conforming product that has not reached consumers is voluntarily withdrawn by the operator that supplied it. The market surveillance authority examines the violation and imposes the fine under Article 26(1), within 5 years of the violation under Article 25, and a fine does not relieve the operator of compensating consumers or of withdrawing the product or stopping the service under Article 23(5). Article 23(4) also takes account of the nature, duration and extent of the violation. For a continuing violation the 5 years in Article 25 run from the day the violation comes to light. Article 22 makes an economic operator that breaches the Act liable under the procedure the Act itself sets. Under Article 28(1) the fine is paid into the State budget within one month of the day the operator receives the decision, and under Article 27(2) going to court does not suspend execution of a decision unless the court rules otherwise. From Article 28(2), as amended by Act No. XV-907, makes a decision imposing a fine an enforcement document executed under the Law on Tax Administration and the Code of Civil Procedure; a fine decision adopted and in force by is executed under the provisions in force until that day (Act No. XV-907, Article 2(2)).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Minimum
- 500
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 15,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The State Consumer Rights Protection Authority (VVTAT) for consumer banking, e-book and e-commerce services under Article 6(4); the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration for the transport services under Article 6(5); the Communications Regulatory Authority (Lietuvos Respublikos ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba, RRT) for electronic communications services under Article 6(6); the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos komisija, LRTK) for audiovisual media access services under Article 6(7)
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
Article 7(1): "Paslaugas teikiančios labai mažos įmonės atleidžiamos nuo prieinamumo reikalavimų laikymosi ir pareigų, susijusių su prieinamumo reikalavimų laikymusi." (very small enterprises that provide services are exempt from complying with the accessibility requirements and from the duties tied to complying with them). Article 3(10) defines a very small enterprise by reference to the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business (No. VIII-935), whose Article 3(3) reads: "Labai maža įmonė – įmonė, kurioje dirba mažiau kaip 10 darbuotojų ir kurios finansiniai duomenys atitinka bent vieną iš šių sąlygų: 1 ) įmonės metinės pajamos neviršija 2 mln. eurų; 2 ) įmonės balanse nurodyto turto vertė neviršija 2 mln. eurų." (a very small enterprise is an enterprise with fewer than 10 employees whose financial data meet at least one of these conditions: annual revenue not above EUR 2 million; balance-sheet assets not above EUR 2 million). That is the same and-or test as Directive (EU) 2019/882 Article 3(23), which defines a microenterprise as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and which has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million. Two national limits narrow it: Article 2(7) of the same Law defines an enterprise (įmonė) as a legal person carrying on economic activity ("Įmonė – ekonominę veiklą vykdantis juridinis asmuo"), so the test is met only by a legal person; and Article 3(13) does not treat as a very small enterprise one in which the State or a municipality holds 25 percent or more of the capital or of the votes, save for the investors it names. The employee count is the average annual headcount (Article 3(7)) and the financial data come from the approved annual financial statements (Article 3(9)); partner and linked enterprises are counted together under the Law's further paragraphs.
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a service listed in Article 2(4) of the Act and provided to consumers: electronic communications services other than transmission services used for machine-to-machine services; access services for audiovisual media services; the website, mobile-device (including app), e-ticket and e-ticketing, real-time travel information, information screen and interactive self-service terminal elements of passenger air, bus, waterborne and rail transport services; consumer banking services; e-books and dedicated software; e-commerce services
- the provider is not a very small enterprise (labai maža įmonė): under Article 3(3) of the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business, an enterprise with fewer than 10 employees whose annual revenue does not exceed EUR 2 million or whose balance-sheet assets do not exceed EUR 2 million
What this law does
Article 2(4) applies the Act to the following services when they are provided to consumers. Article 2(4) covers electronic communications services, except transmission services used for machine-to-machine services. Article 2(4) covers the access services for audiovisual media services.
Article 2(4) covers the websites, mobile-device services including apps, e-tickets and e-ticketing, real-time travel information, information screens and interactive self-service terminals of passenger air, bus, waterborne and rail transport services. For urban and suburban transport services the requirements apply only to the interactive self-service terminals that are not built into vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock.
The service requirements for information screens apply only to interactive screens located in Lithuania, except screens built into vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock. Before point 3 of Article 2(4) excluded urban and suburban transport services from the transport service elements it listed. Before the opening words of Article 2(4) did not limit the listed services to those provided to consumers.
Act No. XV-760 reworded those opening words to cover the services provided to consumers. Article 2(4) also covers consumer banking services, e-books and dedicated software, and e-commerce services. Article 3(2) defines consumer banking services as real-estate credit, consumer credit, certain investment services under the Law on Markets in Financial Instruments, payment account services and payment services, and the issuing of electronic money.
Article 3(6) defines e-commerce services as services provided at a distance through websites and mobile devices, by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer, in order to conclude a consumer contract.
Article 2(6) excludes from the Act pre-recorded time-based media and office file formats published before the Act took effect, online maps where the essential navigation information is provided in an accessible digital way, third-party content the operator neither funds, produces nor controls, and archive websites and apps.
Article 2(7) treats services that meet the accessible-information requirements of Regulations (EC) No 261/2004, (EC) No 1107/2006, (EU) No 1177/2010, (EU) No 181/2011, (EU) No 454/2011, (EU) No 1300/2014 and (EU) 2021/782 as meeting the Act, and keeps any additional requirement the Act or its implementing acts add. Article 2(8) excludes the legal relations governed by Article 25 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights and by Regulation (EU) 2017/1563.
Article 7(1) requires economic operators to ensure that the services they provide meet the accessibility requirements set out in Annex 1. Article 7(1) exempts a very small enterprise that provides services from the accessibility requirements and from the duties tied to complying with them. Article 3(10) defines a very small enterprise by reference to the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business.
Article 3(3) of the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business defines a very small enterprise by its headcount together with its annual revenue or its balance-sheet assets. Article 2(7) of that Law defines an enterprise as a legal person that carries on economic activity. Article 3(13) of that Law, save for the investors it names, does not treat as a very small enterprise one in which the State or a municipality holds 25 percent or more of the capital or of the votes.
Article 13(1) requires a provider of the services listed in Article 2(4) to ensure that its services are designed and provided in line with the accessibility requirements that apply to them. Article 13(2) requires the provider to state in its general terms of service, or an equivalent document, how the service meets the applicable accessibility requirements, to publish that information and to keep it for as long as the service is provided.
Article 13(5) requires a provider whose service does not meet the accessibility requirements to inform the market surveillance authority at once and no later than 5 working days after learning of it. Article 14(1) limits the accessibility requirements to the extent that compliance does not require a fundamental alteration of the service's basic nature and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the operator.
Article 14(5) requires a service provider that relies on the disproportionate-burden limit to renew its assessment for each category or type of service when the services it offers change, when the authority asks, and at least every 5 years. Article 14(7) requires an operator that relies on Article 14(1) to send the assessment report to the authority within 3 working days of the assessment, and exempts very small enterprises from that duty.
Article 15(1) and (2) presume that services which meet harmonised standards or technical specifications, or parts of them, meet the applicable accessibility requirements to the extent those standards or specifications cover them. Article 15(4) presumes that a product or service whose features, elements or functions meet the accessibility requirements meets the related accessibility duties in other European Union acts, unless those acts provide otherwise.
Chapter III of Annex 1 requires the websites, related online applications and mobile-device services, including mobile apps, to be consistently and adequately accessible, so that they are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Point 15 of Annex 1 requires a function of a product or a service that Chapters I to V of Annex 1 do not cover to be made accessible by meeting the related functional performance criteria.
Chapter IV of Annex 1 adds requirements for electronic communications services, audiovisual media access services, passenger transport services, consumer banking services, e-books and e-commerce services. Point 11.5.2 of Annex 1 requires the information of consumer banking services to be understandable and presented at no higher than level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Article 20(2) has the authority tell a service provider that does not meet the requirements to act within a reasonable period of at least 3 working days and, if it does not, order it to stop providing the service. Article 30(3) lets service providers keep providing similar services until with products they lawfully used before the Act took effect, and keeps service contracts concluded before valid unchanged until they end, but no later than .
Directive (EU) 2019/882 Article 32(1) requires Member States to provide a transitional period ending on for service providers that continue to use products lawfully used before that date. Article 30(3) does not take up the option in Article 32(2) of the Directive, which lets Member States allow self-service terminals lawfully used before to stay in use until the end of their economically useful life, but no longer than 20 years after they entered into use.
Article 6 names the market surveillance authorities for the services: the State Consumer Rights Protection Authority for consumer banking, e-book and e-commerce services, the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration for the transport services, the Communications Regulatory Authority for electronic communications services, and the Radio and Television Commission for audiovisual media access services.
Article 4(10) has the institution the Minister of Social Security and Labour authorises, together with the institution the Minister of Culture authorises, the Bank of Lithuania and non-governmental organisations of persons with disabilities, give methodological help to the ministries and the market surveillance authorities. Article 21(4) obliges the operator to carry out the authority's lawful instructions during an inspection and to provide the information and documents needed.
The power of officials to enter an operator's premises under Article 21(1), point 3 does not apply to the provision of public information services. Article 26(2) opens the examination of a violation on a complaint from a consumer, an end user, a State or municipal body, a consumer association or any other interested person, or on the authority's own initiative. Article 26(1) has each market surveillance authority approve its own rules for examining violations of the Act and applying liability.
Article 27(1) allows the authority's decisions on fines and warnings to be appealed within one month of service under the Law on Public Administration or the Law on Administrative Proceedings. Article 13 of the Act implements Article 13 of Directive (EU) 2019/882, which provides that service providers ensure that they design and provide services in accordance with the accessibility requirements of the Directive.
Article 7(1) of the Act implements Article 4(5) of the Directive, which provides that microenterprises providing services are exempt from the accessibility requirements and from any obligations relating to compliance with them. Article 14 of the Act implements Article 14 of the Directive, which provides that the accessibility requirements apply only to the extent that compliance does not require a fundamental alteration and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operators.
Article 23 of the Act is the penalty rule that Article 30 of the Directive requires, which provides that the penalties are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Article 13(3) lets service providers fully or partly apply harmonised standards and technical specifications to meet the information duty of Article 13(2).
Article 24 treats as mitigating that the violator voluntarily prevented the harmful consequences or compensated the losses, and as aggravating a repeat of the same violation within a year of the decision on the earlier one taking effect, or obstructing the investigation or concealing the violation. Article 26(8) requires the authority to examine a violation within 3 months of receiving the investigation material.
Annex 2 sets the criteria for the disproportionate-burden assessment: the ratio of the net costs of compliance to the operator's overall costs, the operator's costs and benefits set against the benefit to persons with disabilities, and the ratio of the net costs of compliance to the operator's net turnover. Article 31(3) of the Directive lets Member States apply the measures on answers to the emergency number 112 (Article 4(8)) at the latest from .
Article 2(5-1) in the edition of the Act in force from applies the Act also to answers to requests for help received on the emergency number 112. Act No. XV-760 of amended the Act from , and its provisions on the 112 answers take effect on .
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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