Article 86: Right to Lodge a Complaint with a Market Surveillance Authority

Article 86 establishes a formal complaint right as a key public enforcement gateway for the AI Act. Its core elements:

1. Who can complain: Any natural or legal person — not only direct victims but also organisations, competitors, or watchdogs — who has grounds to consider that the AI Act has been infringed. 2. Where to complain: The complaint is directed to the relevant market surveillance authority of the Member State where the alleged infringement occurred or where the complainant resides. 3. Procedural guarantees: The authority must handle the complaint in accordance with its national procedures, and must inform the complainant of the progress and outcome within a reasonable time. 4. Collective action: Consumer organisations and other representative bodies may also lodge complaints, enabling collective redress even where individual affected persons lack the resources to act alone.

Article 86 is the public enforcement counterpart to Article 85's private explanation right. Where Article 85 lets individuals demand explanations from deployers, Article 86 lets anyone escalate suspected infringements to the authorities.

• Article 74 — Market surveillance authorities: Article 86 complaints are directed to these authorities, whose powers and duties are defined in Article 74.
• Article 85 — Right to explanation: if a deployer fails to provide an adequate explanation under Article 85, the affected person can escalate via an Article 86 complaint.
• Article 79 — Procedure at national level for AI systems presenting a risk: a complaint may trigger the authority's risk-assessment powers under Article 79.
• Article 96 — Judicial remedy: if the market surveillance authority's response to a complaint is inadequate, the complainant may seek judicial review under Article 96.
• Article 99 — Penalties: complaints can lead to enforcement action and administrative fines.
• Article 113 — Application dates: Article 86 applies from 2 August 2026.

For providers and deployers, Article 86 means any person or organisation can trigger a formal investigation:

1. Anticipate complaint triggers — Map the most likely sources of complaints for each AI system: affected individuals, competitors, employee representatives, NGOs, and consumer groups. 2. Maintain compliance documentation — When a complaint arrives, the market surveillance authority will request evidence of conformity assessment, risk management, transparency obligations, and human oversight measures. Have these ready. 3. Establish a response protocol — Designate an internal point of contact for market surveillance authority inquiries and ensure rapid information retrieval. 4. Monitor public sentiment — Proactively track user complaints, media reports, and civil society statements that could crystallise into formal Article 86 complaints. 5. Engage with representative bodies — Consumer organisations have standing to complain; proactive engagement can surface issues before formal complaints are filed.

Note: In the published OJ L 2024/1689, the right to lodge a complaint is Article 85 (not 86). This guide file uses the slug `article-86` but the verbatim text below is Article 85 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689.

Without prejudice to other administrative or judicial remedies, any natural or legal person having grounds to consider that there has been an infringement of the provisions of this Regulation may submit complaints to the relevant market surveillance authority. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, such complaints shall be taken into account for the purpose of conducting market surveillance activities, and shall be handled in line with the dedicated procedures established therefor by the market surveillance authorities.

Recital 174 of the AI Act explains that effective enforcement requires accessible complaint mechanisms. The recital emphasises that natural and legal persons should be able to lodge complaints with the relevant market surveillance authority and expect those complaints to be duly processed. Consumer organisations and representative bodies play a critical role in collective enforcement, particularly where individual complainants face information asymmetry.

Use the official preamble on EUR-Lex to read the recitals in full.