Policy Briefing — Data Act switching charge sunset hits mid-January 2027
Article 23(5) of the EU Data Act bans data processing service providers from imposing switching charges from 12 January 2027, making December the final window to align contracts, billing systems, and exit support playbooks.
Executive briefing: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act) requires providers of data processing services to eliminate switching fees and related charges by 12 January 2027. With less than a month remaining, cloud and platform operators must finalise contract updates, billing transitions, and technical handover tooling that allow customers to exit or port workloads without penalty.
Mandatory deliverables
- Contract remediation. Remove switching fees, minimum spend clawbacks, and non-compete clauses that conflict with Article 23.
- Billing alignment. Update invoicing systems to ensure pro-rata credits and termination processes comply with the no-charge requirement.
- Portability support. Provide migration tooling, APIs, and documentation enabling customers to export data and associated metadata in commonly used formats.
Program actions
- Customer communication. Notify customers of revised terms, exit timelines, and support channels ahead of the 12 January deadline.
- Operational drills. Run migration rehearsals to validate bandwidth, data integrity, and security controls during bulk exports.
- Compliance evidence. Catalogue artefacts demonstrating removal of charges and availability of support services for supervisory requests.
Enablement moves
- Coordinate with partner ecosystems to offer multi-cloud landing zones and integration services aligned with the charge-free switching requirement.
- Embed switching metrics (time to exit, export success rates, satisfaction) into customer success dashboards to track ongoing compliance.