EU Data Act Cloud Switching Fees and Deadlines FAQ

The Data Act switching rules apply to providers of data processing services that provide those services to customers in the Union. The definition covers digital services giving on-demand network access to configurable, scalable, and elastic computing resources, which is why the Commission describes Chapter VI as covering cloud and edge services.

The fee review should therefore start with the service catalogue and customer contract, not with a generic cloud label. Identify the source provider, the customer, the service type, any destination provider or on-premises target, and the exportable data and digital assets involved in the switching process.

Check Article 31 before applying the charge rules. Article 29 does not apply where most main features are custom-built for one customer, or all components were developed for one customer, and the service is not offered at broad commercial scale through the provider's service catalogue. Other Chapter VI duties can still apply. A non-production service provided for testing and evaluation for a limited period is outside Chapter VI. Before contracting for either category, the provider must identify the duties that do not apply.

A switching charge is a charge, other than standard service fees or early termination penalties, imposed by a provider on a customer for the actions required by the Data Act to switch to another provider or to on-premises ICT infrastructure. The definition expressly includes data egress charges.

This means the billing inventory should not stop at line items called exit fees. It should include data egress, migration assistance fees, export tooling charges, charges for required switching actions, and any renamed or bundled fee that is triggered by the customer's switch.

Article 29 describes a reduced-charge period from 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027. Because the Regulation generally applies from 12 September 2025, the operational compliance period for the Article 29 cost cap begins on that application date. During that period, reduced switching charges must not exceed the provider's costs directly linked to the switching process concerned.

A provider should therefore keep cost support for each reduced charge. A generic fee schedule is weak evidence unless it shows the charge is tied to actual direct switching costs and not to lock-in, margin recovery, ordinary service revenue, or a disguised deterrent.

From 12 January 2027, providers of data processing services must not impose switching charges on customers for the switching process. This prohibition covers data egress charges incurred for switching. It does not erase standard service fees or early termination penalties, which the Regulation excludes from the definition of switching charges.

Enforce the 12 January 2027 sunset in billing, contract templates, support scripts, renewal packs, procurement responses, and public pricing materials. After that date, a charge triggered by the switching process needs a documented reason why it falls outside the switching-charge definition.

The contract must set out the customer's switching rights and the provider's switching obligations in writing and be available before signature in a way the customer can store and reproduce. The contract must include a maximum notice period for starting the switching process that does not exceed two months.

After that notice period, the contract must allow switching or porting of all exportable data and digital assets without undue delay and not later than the mandatory maximum transitional period of 30 calendar days. During that period, the provider must give reasonable assistance, maintain business continuity, provide clear information about known continuity risks on the provider side, and maintain a high level of security.

Yes, but the Data Act gives specific conditions. If the mandatory 30-calendar-day transitional period is technically unfeasible, the provider must notify the customer within 14 working days of the switching request, justify the technical unfeasibility, and indicate an alternative transitional period that does not exceed seven months.

Separately, the contract must give the customer the right to extend the transitional period once for a period the customer considers more appropriate for its own purposes. Providers should distinguish provider-justified technical unfeasibility from a customer-requested extension.

The contract must provide a minimum data retrieval period of at least 30 calendar days. That retrieval period starts after the end of the transitional period agreed between the customer and the provider.

The contract must also guarantee full erasure of exportable data and digital assets generated directly by, or relating directly to, the customer after the retrieval period expires, or after a later agreed period, provided the switching process has completed successfully.

Before entering into a contract, providers must give prospective customers clear information on standard service fees, early termination penalties, and any reduced switching charges that may be imposed during the transition period. Where relevant, providers must also give information on services involving highly complex or costly switching, or where switching is impossible without significant interference in data, digital assets, or service architecture.

Providers must also give customers information on available switching and porting procedures, methods, formats, restrictions, and known technical limitations. They must provide a reference to an up-to-date online register with details of data structures, data formats, and relevant standards and open interoperability specifications for exportable data.

Keep evidence that connects the contract term, billing item, customer request, technical assessment, and outcome to the Data Act rule being applied. Maintain a switching-fee and deadline register that can be reviewed without reconstructing decisions from emails or support tickets.

For each customer or service, the record should show the charge classification, direct-cost support where reduced charges are used before 12 January 2027, notice-period start and end dates, transition-period dates, any 14-working-day technical-unfeasibility notice, retrieval-window dates, erasure evidence, and the owner who approved the decision.

Assign one accountable owner for each Data Act switching-control area: contract wording, billing configuration, customer communications, or exit evidence. The owner should be the person who can actually change the process, while legal, finance, procurement, cloud operations, and support are recorded as consulted teams.

For Article 29 timing, the billing owner should own the 12 January 2027 stop date and any pre-2027 reduced-charge evidence. For Article 25 timing, the contract owner should own the notice period, 30-day transition, retrieval window, and erasure clause.