What Happens If You Do Not Comply with a Digital Product Passport Requirement?

Start with the rule that actually applies

A DPP requirement under ESPR arises through the applicable product-specific delegated act. So the first question is not “what is the DPP fine?” It is:

1. Does a DPP requirement apply to this product yet?
2. Which information, carrier, identifier, access or other requirement is binding?
3. Which economic operator carries the relevant obligation?
4. Which authority and national penalty regime applies to the infringement?

A planned delegated-act date or Working Plan entry is not the same thing as a live compliance deadline.

ESPR Article 74: Member States set penalties

Article 74 is the ESPR penalty provision. It requires Member States to lay down rules on penalties for infringements and to make them effective, proportionate and dissuasive. It also lists factors that national penalty systems should take into account where applicable, including the gravity and duration of the infringement, intent or negligence, financial situation, economic benefit, environmental damage, remediation and repeat behaviour.

Article 74 then requires Member States at least to be able to impose:

• fines
• time-limited exclusion from public procurement procedures.

The Regulation itself does not state one universal euro fine for a DPP breach. It also does not set one universal percentage-of-turnover maximum. Turnover appears in the recitals as an example of information that can indicate financial situation, not as an EU-wide penalty formula.

Article 76: consumer redress can be a separate exposure

ESPR Article 76 deals with consumer redress where a product does not comply with ecodesign requirements set in delegated acts. It identifies economic operators that can be liable for damage suffered by the consumer, depending on where the manufacturer, importer, authorised representative or fulfilment service provider sits in the chain.

That does not mean every DPP data error automatically produces a consumer damages claim. The provision is tied to non-compliance with ecodesign requirements set in the delegated acts and to damage suffered by the consumer. It's still a reason not to reduce the compliance question to an administrative fine table.

Market surveillance can require the problem to be corrected

Penalty exposure sits alongside the EU market-surveillance framework. If authorities identify formal non-compliance with applicable requirements, they can require the relevant economic operator to bring it to an end. Depending on the product and failure, enforcement can involve documentary checks, physical or laboratory checks and the wider corrective measures available under product-compliance law.

For the separate question of who checks DPP information, use Who Checks Digital Product Passport Information?. This page covers what the consequences and exposure can be after a requirement is breached.

Customs, marketplaces and listing gates are not one universal DPP sanction

A product can also encounter operational gates under separate rules. Customs checks, marketplace controls, listing requirements or sector registration gates can stop or delay a product even where the mechanism is not an “ESPR fine”.

Keep those legal bases separate. Do not describe every blocked listing, border check or marketplace removal as the penalty prescribed by Article 74. Where a separate regime creates a gate, name that regime.

Adjacent pages include Digital Product Passports and EU Customs and Marketplace Gates.

Who can carry the exposure?

The answer depends on the obligation. ESPR assigns duties to manufacturers, importers, authorised representatives and other economic operators in different circumstances. Article 76 also contains a sequence for consumer redress.

Do not assume the software provider is automatically the legally responsible party merely because it hosts the passport. Likewise, do not assume the retailer always carries the manufacturer's product obligation. Use Who Carries the DPP Obligation? for the role question.

A practical non-compliance triage

If a problem is found, separate it into these questions:

What not to put in a compliance deck

Do not publish statements such as:

• “The EU DPP fine is €X.”
• “Every DPP breach costs X% of global turnover.”
• “Article 77 sets the ESPR penalties.”
• “Any missing DPP automatically means a fine.”
• “DPP non-compliance always stops the product at customs.”

Article 74 is the penalty provision. Article 77 amends Directive (EU) 2020/1828. A corrigendum published on 7 August 2024 corrected numbering references inside Articles 77 and 78 in the original OJ text; it did not move the penalty provision away from Article 74.

Current maturity and review requirement

This page has a shorter shelf life than most Knowledge content.

NOW: Article 74 sets the EU framework for national penalties and Article 76 provides a consumer-redress route for the conditions stated there.

PRODUCT-SPECIFIC: whether a particular DPP requirement applies, when it applies and what precise non-compliance exists.

NATIONAL: actual penalty rules and amounts under Article 74.

REVIEW TRIGGER: recheck this page whenever a product-specific DPP delegated act is adopted, when a relevant Member State publishes or materially changes its ESPR penalty rules, or when EU guidance/case law changes the interpretation of Articles 74 or 76.

Next question

For the enforcement actor rather than the consequence, read Who Checks Digital Product Passport Information?.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Articles 74 and 76
• Corrigendum of 7 August 2024