Market surveillance of services

(1) Where the market surveillance authority has reason to believe that the offering or provision of a service does not meet the accessibility requirements of the statutory instrument to be issued under section 3(2), it examines whether the service meets those requirements.
(2) The market surveillance authority also examines a service, even without a specific occasion, by way of appropriate random sampling, in a suitable manner and to an appropriate extent, as to whether and to what degree the service meets the accessibility requirements of the statutory instrument to be issued under section 3(2). In the case of websites or mobile applications, it applies the specifications of Annex 1 no. 1 and selects the sample of services to be examined in accordance with the specifications of Annex 1 no. 2.
(3) Where the service provider has relied on section 16 or section 17, the market surveillance authority examines 1. whether the service provider carried out the assessment required under the relevant provision, 2. that assessment, including the proper application of the criteria set out in Annex 4, and 3. whether the remaining accessibility requirements are complied with.
(4) On request, the market surveillance authority must make available to a consumer, in a form perceivable to that consumer, 1. the information available to it as to whether a particular economic operator meets the accessibility requirements of the statutory instrument to be issued under section 3(2), and 2. the assessment carried out by the economic operator under section 16(1), second sentence or section 17(1), second sentence. Where necessary, the market surveillance authority should explain the information available to it in a simple and comprehensible manner. Where an explanation under the second sentence is not sufficient for the consumer, the market surveillance authority should explain the information in Easy Language. The obligation under the first sentence does not apply where the information cannot be provided for reasons of confidentiality under Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 2019/1020.
(5) Persons with hearing impairments and persons with speech impairments have the right to communicate with the market surveillance authority, in the procedure under subsection (4), in German Sign Language, using spoken language supported by signing, or through other suitable means of communication. The costs of means of communication are to be borne by the market surveillance authority. Section 5 of the Communication Aids Ordinance applies accordingly.
(6) Sections 10 and 11 of the Act on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities apply accordingly to the procedure under subsection (4).