AFIR Compliance
AFIR compliance deadlines 2026-2027: what charge point operators must do now
Three dated obligations under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation are landing in quick succession. Here is exactly what applies and when.
What AFIR is
The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, is the EU framework governing the rollout and technical standards of charging infrastructure across member states. Unlike a directive, a regulation applies directly in every member state without national transposition, which is why the dates below apply on the same day across the EU rather than drifting country by country. For charge point operators, AFIR is not a single compliance event. It is a sequence of dated technical obligations, three of which land in 2026 and 2027 and affect almost every operator running public infrastructure.
The three deadlines that matter right now
| Date | Obligation | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Jan 2026 | ISO 15118-2 support required | New and renovated public AC chargers |
| 14 Apr 2026 | DATEX II data reporting mandatory | Public charging point operators |
| 2027 | Card payment readers required | Chargers rated 50kW and above |
ISO 15118-2, from 8 January 2026
Every new or renovated public AC charger needs to support ISO 15118-2, the standard behind plug and charge: a vehicle and charger negotiate authorization and billing automatically over the charging cable, with no card, app, or RFID tag involved. This is a hardware and firmware requirement first, and a backend requirement second. The charger needs the physical capability, and the central system behind it needs to handle certificate exchange and contract authorization.
DATEX II reporting, from 14 April 2026
Public charge point operators must report charger location, availability, and pricing data to national access points using the DATEX II data exchange format. This is a backend integration project: a data pipeline from your central system to the required reporting endpoint, built to run continuously rather than as a one-time submission.
Payment readers on 50kW+ chargers, from 2027
Fast chargers rated 50kW and above need a card payment terminal, so a driver can pay without downloading an app or holding a subscription with that specific network. For operators running app-only or RFID-only payment today, this is both a hardware procurement project and a billing system integration.
What non-compliance risks
Enforcement sits with national regulators and the specific mechanism varies by member state, but the shape is consistent across the EU: operators found non-compliant face fines set by the national authority, and in practice, non-compliant sites risk exclusion from national charging registries, public roaming networks, and public tenders that increasingly require AFIR conformance as a baseline. For an operator competing for a municipal or highway concession contract, a non-compliant fleet can disqualify a bid before price is even discussed. The commercial risk, in other words, usually lands before the fine does.
A practical checklist
- List every charger by installation or renovation date, to know which units fall under the 8 January 2026 ISO 15118-2 requirement.
- Confirm with each hardware vendor whether ISO 15118-2 is a firmware update or a hardware requirement on your existing units.
- Identify the national access point your DATEX II feed needs to report to, and confirm the data fields required.
- Build or commission the DATEX II reporting pipeline with enough lead time to test before 14 April 2026.
- Audit every charger rated 50kW and above for existing payment integration.
- Budget card reader procurement and billing system integration for 50kW+ sites ahead of the 2027 deadline.
- Track your national regulator's specific enforcement and penalty mechanism, since implementation detail varies by member state even though the regulation is EU-wide.
Where OCPP 2.0.1 fits in
None of these three obligations name a specific communication protocol between charger and central system. In practice, OCPP 2.0.1 is the version built with ISO 15118 support in mind, which makes it the practical backend for plug and charge, and the same central system upgrade that gets you to 2.0.1 is the natural place to build the DATEX II reporting pipeline and payment integration at the same time, rather than as three separate projects. We cover the migration itself, phase by phase, in our OCPP 1.6 to 2.0.1 migration guide.
Digiton scopes AFIR-driven platform work, OCPP migration, DATEX II reporting, and payment integration, as a single fixed-scope engagement for charge point operators. See our EV charging and OCPP integration practice or email contact@digiton.ai.
Frequently asked questions
What is AFIR?
AFIR is the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, the EU framework setting technical and rollout requirements for charging infrastructure. As a regulation rather than a directive, it applies directly across all member states on the same dates.
What happens on 8 January 2026?
New and renovated public AC chargers must support ISO 15118-2, the standard behind plug and charge, where a vehicle authorizes a charging session automatically without a card or app.
What happens on 14 April 2026?
DATEX II data reporting becomes mandatory for public charge point operators, requiring charger location, availability, and pricing data to be reported to national access points in the DATEX II format.
What happens in 2027?
Chargers rated 50kW and above must have card payment readers, so drivers can pay directly without an app or subscription tied to that specific network.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
Enforcement and specific fines are set by each national regulator and vary by member state. Beyond direct fines, non-compliant chargers risk exclusion from national registries, roaming networks, and public tenders, which is often the more immediate commercial risk for an operator.
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