Cyprus: Rights of passengers travelling by sea and inland waterway established

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Cyprus-Department-of-Merchant-ShippingThe Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping recently issued a circular on the implementation of EU Regulation 1177/2010 concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway, amending EU Regulation 2006/20041.

EU Regulation 1177/2010 establishes a minimum set of rights for passengers travelling by sea and inland waterway, and requires carriers to provide assistance in the event of cancelled or delayed departures and compensation in the event of delayed arrival in certain circumstances. The regulation also aims to provide disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility with the same opportunities for maritime and inland waterway travel as they are entitled to when using other means of transport in the European Union.

In order to ensure compliance with the regulation, the government has introduced a procedure to impose administrative penalties on carriers that breach its provisions, in accordance with Article 13 of the Implementation of European Community Regulations and European Community Decisions Law 2007.(1)

The Implementation of European Community Regulations and European Community Decisions Regulations 2015(2) provide for the imposition of an administrative fine of up to €17,086 for breach of the provisions that prohibit discrimination and also require proper access and assistance for disabled persons, as well as a proper complaints-handling procedure.(3) For less serious breaches, such as failure to provide information on these matters, the administrative fine is €1,708.

Endnotes

(1) Law 78(I)/2007.

(2) PI 195/2015.

(3) Articles 4(2), 7, 9(1), 10 and 24 of EU Regulation 1177/2010.

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Source: Vasileios Psyrras at Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC

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