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European Accessibility Act: Austria (BaFG)
AT- Applies from
- 2025-06-28
- Maximum penalty
- €80,000
- Enforcement authority
- Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen (Sozialministeriumservice) — sole market surveillance authority for the BaFG; unlike some countries there is no sector split, e.g. no separate telecom or banking regulator carved out for this specific law. — https://www.sozialministeriumservice.gv.at/Marktueberwachung_digitale_Barrierefreiheit/Das-Barrierefreiheitsgesetz.de.html
- Microenterprise exemption
- Yes — under the EAA's EU-wide microenterprise exemption for services
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- National law
- Bundesgesetz über Barrierefreiheitsanforderungen für Produkte und Dienstleistungen (Barrierefreiheitsgesetz – BaFG), BGBl. I Nr. 76/2023
- Notes
- Penalties are tiered by severity and by offender size under BaFG §36: up to €80,000 for core violations (placing a non-compliant product on the market, or offering/providing a non-compliant service), reduced to €50,000 if committed by a microenterprise or SME; up to €40,000 (€25,000 for micro/SME) for secondary compliance failures such as missing conformity assessment or documentation; up to €16,000 for record-keeping and cooperation failures. These are fixed euro figures with no inflation-indexing or turnover-based formula, imposed directly by the Sozialministeriumservice as an administrative offence (Verwaltungsübertretung) — no criminal court process or imprisonment is involved. The microenterprise exemption (services only) is a standard, permanent exemption; Austria did not extend or shorten it relative to the Directive's baseline, unlike Belgium's phased delay for the equivalent category.
Who is obligated in Austria
The BaFG applies to products placed on the Austrian market after 28 June 2025 — consumer computer hardware and operating systems, self-service terminals (payment terminals, ATMs, ticket and check-in machines, interactive information terminals), interactive consumer terminals for electronic communications and audiovisual media access, and e-book readers — plus services provided to consumers after that date: electronic communications, audiovisual media access, air/bus/rail/waterborne passenger transport information and ticketing, consumer banking, e-books, and e-commerce. Household appliances and terminals built into vehicles, aircraft, ships or trains are excluded. Austria's transposition tracks the Directive's scope closely, without expanding or narrowing the covered list. The standard EU microenterprise exemption (fewer than 10 employees, annual turnover or balance sheet under €2 million) applies only to service providers — manufacturers, importers and distributors of physical products get no size-based exemption, though they can invoke the Directive's fundamental-alteration and disproportionate-burden defences case by case.
What happens if you don't comply
The Sozialministeriumservice is Austria's sole market surveillance authority for the BaFG. Anyone — a consumer, the Verein für Konsumenteninformation, the Austrian Disability Council, the Federal Chamber of Labour, or the Chamber of Commerce — can flag a suspected violation. The authority must review it and reply in writing, in an accessible format, within eight weeks, stating whether it is opening a formal procedure and, if not, why. Formal market-surveillance procedures let the authority order corrective measures within a set deadline before escalating to withdrawing a product from the market or prohibiting a service. Administrative fines are the final step, imposed directly by the Sozialministeriumservice — no court or criminal process, no imprisonment. Decisions can be appealed to the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court). Austrian trade press and the Disability Council report the authority applying an advise-before-penalising approach for first-time or minor breaches in its first year, though this is a stated enforcement practice rather than a binding statutory requirement.
How this differs from the EU baseline
Three things distinguish Austria's approach from the bare Directive. First, a hard statutory clock: the authority must respond to any complaint within eight weeks, a concrete accountability mechanism the Directive itself doesn't specify. Second, unusually broad standing to trigger review — not just the affected consumer but four named organisations (VKI, the Disability Council, the Chamber of Labour, the Chamber of Commerce) can report suspected violations in their own right. Third, a genuinely tiered, size-adjusted penalty ladder rather than one flat ceiling: up to €80,000/€40,000/€16,000 depending on the violation's severity, roughly halved when the violator is a microenterprise or SME. There are no criminal sanctions or imprisonment, unlike Ireland's approach; everything routes through administrative fines with court review available afterward.
How to complain
Anyone can notify the Sozialministeriumservice's market-surveillance unit of a suspected accessibility violation — not only the person directly affected. Channels include a dedicated online form, email, post, phone, or an in-person appointment. Written and postal reports are asked to include the reporter's name, birthdate, and address, so this channel is not anonymous by design, though phone contact is less formal. By law, the office must respond in writing, in an accessible format, within eight weeks on whether it is opening a case.
Frequently asked questions about the EAA in Austria
- What is the maximum EAA fine in Austria?
- The maximum penalty is €80,000. Penalties are tiered by severity and by offender size under BaFG §36: up to €80,000 for core violations (placing a non-compliant product on the market, or offering/providing a non-compliant service), reduced to €50,000 if committed by a microenterprise or SME; up to €40,000 (€25,000 for micro/SME) for secondary compliance failures such as missing conformity assessment or documentation; up to €16,000 for record-keeping and cooperation failures.
- Who enforces the European Accessibility Act in Austria?
- Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen (Sozialministeriumservice) — sole market surveillance authority for the BaFG; unlike some countries there is no sector split, e.g. no separate telecom or banking regulator carved out for this specific law. Details are published at https://www.sozialministeriumservice.gv.at/Marktueberwachung_digitale_Barrierefreiheit/Das-Barrierefreiheitsgesetz.de.html.
- Since when does the EAA apply in Austria?
- The requirements apply from 28 June 2025, the EU-wide date, transposed into Austria by Austria's national implementing law.
- Are small businesses exempt from the EAA in Austria?
- Only microenterprises — fewer than 10 staff and annual turnover or balance sheet total of €2 million or less — and only for services. A microenterprise in Austria that places a covered product on the market still has to make that product accessible.
- How do I report an inaccessible website in Austria?
- Complaints go to the national complaint route at https://www.sozialministeriumservice.gv.at/Marktueberwachung_digitale_Barrierefreiheit/Informationen_fuer_Verbraucherinnen/Kontakt-fuer-Hinweisgeberinnen-nach-Barrierefreiheitsgesetz/Kontakt-fuer-Hinweisgeber-innen-nach-Barrierefre.de.html. The enforcement authority above handles market surveillance separately.
Official source: https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=20012316&FassungVom=2025-06-28
Verified on 2026-09-29. This page is not legal advice — verify against the official source above before making compliance decisions.