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Data Act Article 29 allows reduced switching charges from 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027, but those charges must not exceed the costs directly linked to the switching process. From 12 January 2027, providers must not impose switching charges on customers for the switching process.

The Commission FAQ treats egress charges as included in switching charges for a switching operation. It also explains a separate in-parallel-use rule: where a customer uses services in parallel, such as multi-cloud deployment, providers may still pass on data egress costs incurred after 12 January 2027, provided they do not exceed those costs.

Data Act Article 25 requires an exhaustive specification of all categories of data and digital assets that can be ported during switching, including at least all exportable data. The Commission FAQ explains exportable data as input and output data plus metadata generated or co-generated by the customer's use of the data processing service, while excluding data protected as provider or third-party intellectual property or trade secrets.

Digital assets are broader than customer records. The Commission FAQ describes them as elements the customer needs to effectively use its data in the new provider environment, including configuration metadata, security and access-control material, applications, virtual machines, and containers where the customer has the right to use them.

Data Act Article 25 requires a minimum retrieval period of at least 30 calendar days after the agreed transitional period ends. The contract also needs a clause guaranteeing full erasure of exportable data and digital assets generated directly by, or directly relating to, the customer after the retrieval period expires or after a later agreed period, provided switching has completed successfully.

Retrieval and erasure should be operationally distinct. Retrieval terms should say how the customer accesses the data and digital assets after transition, while erasure terms should say what gets erased, when erasure starts, which evidence is generated, and which legally retained or non-exportable material is outside the erasure commitment.

Data Act Article 25 requires the contract to state when it is considered terminated and when the customer is notified. Termination occurs, where applicable, upon successful completion of the switching process, or at the end of the maximum notice period where the customer does not switch but instead wants exportable data and digital assets erased on service termination.

The termination clause should be linked to the switching workflow. A provider should not treat termination, retrieval, and erasure as a single event, because Article 25 gives them different functions and clocks.

Data Act Article 26 requires providers to give customers information on switching and porting procedures, methods, formats, restrictions, and technical limitations. It also requires a reference to an up-to-date online register with the data structures, data formats, relevant standards, and open interoperability specifications in which Article 25 exportable data is available.

For PaaS and SaaS, Article 30 requires open interfaces for customers and destination providers free of charge to facilitate switching, with enough service information to enable software communication for data portability and interoperability. Compatibility with published common specifications or harmonised standards applies after the Data Act repository trigger and the Article 30 compliance clock.

Data Act Article 31 creates a specific regime for services whose main features are custom-built for one customer or whose components were developed for one customer and are not offered at broad commercial scale through the provider's service catalogue. It also excludes non-production testing and evaluation services provided for a limited period from Chapter VI obligations.

The Commission FAQ cautions that custom-built services are not fully outside Chapter VI. Some obligations can still apply, including open interfaces and structured, commonly used, machine-readable export where relevant. Before relying on Article 31, providers must inform the prospective customer which Chapter VI obligations do not apply.

The Commission has published non-binding standard contractual clauses for cloud computing contracts to help parties implement the Data Act. The Commission material says the clauses are voluntary and can be adapted, so they are a drafting aid rather than a substitute for checking the provider's actual services, export inventory, charges, interfaces, and transition process.

The Commission describes cloud SCC coverage for switching and exit, termination, security and business continuity, non-dispersion, non-amendment, and liability. Those themes are useful checkpoints for a Data Act contract review, especially where a legacy cloud agreement spreads switching obligations across order forms, service descriptions, online policies, support terms, and pricing pages.

Data Act evidence for cloud switching should prove both contract coverage and operational performance. Keep the signed contract version, Article 25 clause matrix, export inventory, online-register snapshot, switching notice, transition calendar, assistance log, customer and destination-provider communications, charge calculation, retrieval confirmation, erasure record, and any technical-unfeasibility justification.

The record should also show why exceptions or limits were used. For example, keep the basis for exempting internal-functioning data, the reason a service was treated as custom-built or testing-only, the cost evidence for reduced charges before 12 January 2027, and the standards or interface status used for interoperability decisions.

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.

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.

The Data Act context is the starting point for this answer. From 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027, providers may impose reduced switching charges. Those reduced charges must not exceed costs incurred by the provider that are 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.

The Data Act context is the starting point for this answer. From 12 January 2027, providers of data processing services must not impose switching charges on customers for the switching process. The Commission describes this as the complete removal of switching charges, including data egress charges.

The practical control is a hard 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 is not a switching charge.

The Data Act context is the starting point for this answer. 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 Data Act context is the starting point for this answer. 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.

The Data Act context is the starting point for this answer. 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. The strongest record is 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.

Keep the quoted Data Act Article 29 rule, the Commission's cloud-switching explanation, and the contract record together so a reviewer can see why a charge was treated as a switching charge or as a reduced charge before 12 January 2027.

The most useful evidence set includes the source URL, the relevant contract clause, the billing item, the customer or service affected, the decision date, the reviewer, and any note explaining why the charge is tied to directly linked switching costs or removed by the 12 January 2027 deadline.

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.

Keep evidence that a later reviewer can use without reconstructing the Data Act answer from scratch: the cited Article 25 or 29 text, the affected contract template, the live billing rule, the customer notice, and the completion record. That package should make it clear when the transition began, when it ended, and whether any charge remained lawful at that point.

Useful artifacts include source URLs, versioned contract clauses, fee approvals, implementation tickets, switching logs, and the final erasure or completion confirmation. These records show not only what the rule says, but how the team applied it to the specific service.