On 26 April, the Polish Parliament adopted a Law on Accessibility Requirements for Certain Products and Services (the “Act”).
Although the Act is not expected to enter into force until 28 June 2025, given the broad scope of the new obligations, businesses should start preparing for it now.
The Act implements the so-called European Accessibility Act (‘EAA’) in Poland. The EAA harmonises accessibility requirements for products and services identified as relevant for persons with disabilities and for which there are differences concerning those requirements among EU countries.
Scope of application
The Act will apply to certain products and services marketed/provided on or after 28 June 2025.
The Act will include:
- selected products, including: computers, laptops, smartphones, payment terminals, e-book readers, self-service terminals providing information,
- selected services, including: e-commerce (online shops), telecommunications, online banking, e-book distribution.
New responsibilities
For these products and services, the Act defines ‘accessibility requirements’ by way of example:
- an obligation to adapt the interfaces of websites and mobile applications by including certain additional functionalities,
- an obligation to provide specific information through more than one sensory channel – including for products that provide communication /service/information opportunities,
- an obligation to adapt the consumer complaints procedure.
The Act provides for exceptions to the above requirements, but imposes the above obligations on, inter alia, manufacturers, importers, distributors or service providers of products and services covered by the Act.
Supervisory authorities and sanctions
Supervision over the application of the Act is entrusted to the President of the Management Board of PFRON and to market surveillance authorities (e.g. the President of UKE, the Financial Ombudsman) and customs authorities.
Those authorities will have broad powers, including to order that a product or service be adjusted, withdrawn from the market or prohibited from being made available, as well as to order that certain information be provided to consumers. To this end, the authorities will be able to carry out inspections or order tests on products.
The Act also foresees fines for, inter alia, a failure to comply with the obligations under the Act – in the amount of up to 10 times the average monthly salary in the national economy for the previous year (for 2023 – PLN 71,554.80), but no more than 10% of the turnover in the year preceding the year in which the penalty is imposed.
Entry into force and transitional provisions
Most of the provisions of the Act are due to come into force on 28 June 2025. However, there are transitional provisions concerning, among other things, the provision of services.
How can we help you?
We can help you verify whether you are subject to the Act. If we confirm that you are, we can identify the specific obligations you need to meet and suggest possible options for implementation.
Please contact us on all aspects of the Act and e-commerce law in general.
For further information, please contact:
Pawel Lipski, Partner, Bird & Bird
pawel.lipski@twobirds.com
