NetherlandsBurgerlijk Wetboek Book 6, Title 5, Section 2ab, accessibility requirements for the e-commerce services of service providers
Also known as Implementatiewet toegankelijkheidsvoorschriften producten en diensten (Act implementing the accessibility requirements for products and services).
Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 6 art. 230fa-230fd, ingevoegd bij Implementatiewet toegankelijkheidsvoorschriften producten en diensten (Stb. 2024, 87), art. IV, met Overgangswet nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek art. 190aa en Wet handhaving consumentenbescherming art. 8.15 en 8a.1
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- If you offer e-commerce services to consumers in the Netherlands (services provided at a distance through a website or mobile app, at a consumer's request, to conclude a contract), design and provide them in accordance with the accessibility requirements in Annex I, Sections III and IV(g), and Annex V to Directive (EU) 2019/882 (Burgerlijk Wetboek Book 6, Art. 230fb(1); Wet handhaving consumentenbescherming, Art. 8.15).
- Draw up the information Annex V requires and explain how your service meets the accessibility requirements, keep it for as long as the service operates, and apply procedures that keep the service in conformity (Art. 230fb(2)).
- Take corrective measures at once where your e-commerce service does not conform to the accessibility requirements (Art. 230fb(2)(f)).
- If you have fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million, Article 230fb does not apply to you (Art. 230fc(1)).
- If you rely on the limit for a fundamental alteration or a disproportionate burden, carry out an assessment, against the criteria in Annex VI to the Directive for a disproportionate burden, and give information about it to the Authority for Consumers and Markets or the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets; if you rely on a disproportionate burden, document the assessment, keep the results for five years and repeat it at least once every five years (Wet handhaving consumentenbescherming, Art. 8a.1).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Article 230fa defines e-commerce services as services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile-device-based services, by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a contract. Article 230fb(1) requires a service provider that supplies e-commerce services to a consumer to design and provide them in accordance with the accessibility requirements in Annex I, Sections III and IV(g), and Annex V to Directive (EU) 2019/882.
Article 230fb(2) requires a service provider to draw up the information Annex V requires and explain how the services meet the accessibility requirements, to keep that information while the service operates, to apply procedures that keep the service in conformity, and to take corrective measures at once where a service does not conform.
Article 230fc(1) disapplies Article 230fb to enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million. Article 230fc(3) provides that a service provider that receives funding from sources other than its own resources to improve accessibility, public or private, cannot rely on the disproportionate-burden limit in Article 230fc(2)(b).
Article 230fd(1) presumes that e-commerce services meet the requirements of Annex I, Sections III and IV(g), where they meet the harmonized standards adopted for the Directive or parts of them. Article 8.15 of the Consumer Protection Enforcement Act requires a service provider that supplies an e-commerce service to comply with Article 230fb. Article 8a.1(2) of that Act requires a provider that relies on the disproportionate-burden limit to repeat its assessment at least once every five years.
Article 8a.1(4) of that Act requires a provider that relies on Article 230fc(2) to give information about it to the Authority for Consumers and Markets or the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Article 190aa(3) of the Transitional Act lets service contracts concluded by means of e-commerce services before continue unchanged until they expire, and at the latest until five years after that date.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface or ships a mobile app.