Reporting infringements of passenger rights
Passengers who wish to complain about an infringement of their rights must first lodge a complaint with the carrier or terminal operator and must do so within two months of the date on which the service was provided or should have been provided. The Maritime Administration and the Market Inspectorate act as complaint-handling authorities, each in its own area as listed below, if passenger complaints are not resolved with the carrier or terminal operator.
How can the Maritime Administration help you?
The Maritime Administration handles passenger complaints concerning infringements of Article 9(1) or (2) or Article 13 or 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010, which means infringements of passengers' rights in respect of:
- accessibility and access conditions;
- setting and making publicly available quality standards for assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility; and
- disability-related training of the personnel of carriers and terminal operators.
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Instructions from the Maritime Administration
If you are not satisfied with the reply received from the carrier or terminal operator, or if you have not received a reply therefrom within two months of lodging a complaint, you may lodge a complaint with the Maritime Administration in so far as it concerns the area of infringements dealt with by the Maritime Administration.Instructions- Instruction from the Maritime Administration (docx, 321 KB)
How can the Market Inspectorate help you?
The Market Inspectorate deals with complaints about:
- non-discrimination between passengers with regard to the transport conditions offered by carriers;
- non-discrimination and assistance for disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility;
- the rights of passengers in cases of cancellation or delay; and the
- minimum information to be provided to passengers.
In accordance with Article 4 of the Decree on the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway, the Market Inspectorate is the competent national enforcement authority for monitoring the implementation of Articles 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 24 of Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010. This means that the Market Inspectorate may take action against a carrier, travel agent, tour operator or terminal operator if:
- they fail to issue a ticket to a passenger;
- they offer contract conditions and tariffs on the basis of direct or indirect discrimination;
- they refuse to accept a reservation, issue a ticket or embark persons on the grounds of disability or reduced mobility, or they offer a reservation or ticket to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility at additional cost under different conditions than those that apply to all other passengers,
- or they fail to provide exceptions or special travel conditions to a passenger due to a disability or reduced mobility
- they fail to establish non-discriminatory access conditions for disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility;
- they fail to make access conditions publicly available in physical form or on the Internet or on request;
they fail to provide assistance free of charge to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility; - they fail to take all the necessary measures regarding notifications;
- they fail to set and make publicly available quality standards regarding assistance;
- they fail to establish disability-related training procedures;
- they fail to inform passengers in the prescribed manner in the event of cancelled or delayed departures or to provide assistance;
- they fail to offer a choice between re-routing or the reimbursement of the ticket price;
- they fail to pay compensation for a ticket in the prescribed manner;
- they fail to provide passengers adequate information on their travel and passenger rights;
- they do not have in place a mechanism for handling passenger complaints.
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Instructions from the Market Inspectorate
If you are not satisfied with the reply received from the carrier or terminal operator, or if you have not received a final reply within two months of lodging a complaint, you may lodge a complaint with the Market Inspectorate.Instructions- Instructions from the Market Inspectorate (docx, 290 KB)
Report on the implementation of the Regulation concerning the rights of passengers in maritime transport
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Report on the implementation of the Regulation concerning the rights of passengers in maritime transport
In accordance with Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004, the competent authorities are required to publish a report every two years on the activities related to the implementation of this Regulation. The structure of the report follows the proposal prepared by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.Reports- Reporting Regulation EU 11772010 angl (docx, 41 KB)
Legislation
- Decree for the enforcement of the Regulation 1177/2010/EU concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway
- Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 Text with EEA relevance (2010/1177) (2010/1177)