New charging rules, on the screen: what AFIR and EPDK change in apps and kiosks

Two sets of rules are changing how drivers pay for charging: the EU's AFIR and the 2026 amendments to Türkiye's EPDK charging regulation. Most commentary covers hardware and contracts. This note covers what they change on the screen, in the app and on the kiosk, because that is where a driver meets them.

What the rules say

AFIR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1804), in the EU:

• Applies since 13 April 2024. Publicly accessible chargers must allow ad-hoc charging: a driver can charge without a contract or an account with the operator.
• New chargers of 50 kW and above (installed since 13 April 2024) must take payment cards, through a card reader or a contactless device that can read them. Below 50 kW, a secure online payment, such as a QR code, is allowed.
• Retrofit deadline, 1 January 2027: existing chargers of 50 kW and above on the TEN-T road network and in secure parking areas must also take card payment.
• Price: the ad-hoc price must be shown before the session starts and be clear and comparable. Chargers of 50 kW and above are priced by the kWh.

EPDK charging regulation, in Türkiye (amendments published in the Official Gazette on 23 March 2026):

• Price by the kWh, no extra fees: no separate connection or start fee. Prices may differ only between AC units, DC units and mobile stations, not by power level, though operators may offer published discounts by location and time of day.
• Charging without a membership: operators must offer ad-hoc charging, through their website or app, to every driver, with or without a loyalty contract. Members can't be charged a membership fee, and the public price can't exceed the lowest member price by more than 25%.
• Card payment: from 1 July 2026, at stations newly added on motorways run by the General Directorate of Highways, at least one DC unit of 50 kW or more must take bank cards or contactless payment, with no extra fee.
• Roaming: operators may now sign roaming agreements, must notify EPDK within 30 days, and EPDK can set rules for them. Where operators agree, one membership can work across networks.

Both rules point the same way: a stranger should be able to arrive, understand the price and charge, without signing up for anything.

What changes on the kiosk

1. The first screen has a new job. It used to say "open the app". Where the rules require a card reader, it has to offer a way to start with a card for anyone who walks up, and keep members' app and RFID routes just as short.
2. The price comes before the plug. The driver sees the ad-hoc price per kWh, and any time-based or idle fee, before authorizing. Show it as a figure, in the local currency, in type you can read in sunlight. A price behind an info icon doesn't count as shown.
3. Explain the card hold. Most card flows reserve an amount before charging and release the difference afterward. If the screen doesn't say so, drivers read the hold as the charge and call support. One plain line fixes it: "We reserve €X; you only pay for what you use."
4. A receipt without an account. Offer a QR code or an email field at the end of the session, so a driver who never signed up can still get a receipt or invoice for their records.
5. Failure states that help. A declined card, a vehicle that won't communicate, a session stopped early: each needs its own message (what happened and what to do next) and a confirmation that the hold will be released.
6. Accessible by design. In the EU, the European Accessibility Act covers payment terminals, and a charger's card terminal may fall under it; ask your counsel. Either way, think of reach height, contrast and a way to use the kiosk without relying on sight. See our EAA checklist.

What changes in the app

1. Simpler price tables. In Türkiye, single AC and DC prices remove the per-power tiers. That makes the price screen simpler, but existing users who learned the old tiers need to be told what changed, and why their usual station costs what it does now.
2. Membership has to earn its place. If anyone can charge without an account, the app has to offer something the card doesn't: saved vehicles, history, member prices, reservations, loyalty. This is a product question, not a compliance one, and it's where retention is now won or lost.
3. Roaming prices before the session. When a member charges on a partner's network, show that network's price before they start, not on the next invoice.
4. The map has to be right. AFIR requires operators to publish static and dynamic data such as location, availability and price through national access points. Apps and route planners read it. If your app shows a charger as available when the data says it's busy, drivers notice the difference.

Who owns this work

These changes cross teams: the hardware supplier, the payment provider, the backend, the app, the kiosk interface, and legal. In our experience, the screens are where the gaps show, because each team assumes another has handled the message the driver sees. We'd suggest one owner for the whole driver journey, from walking up to the charger to receiving the receipt, with the rules mapped onto each step.

Where we come in

We've designed charging experiences for Türkiye's largest charging network and for cross-border operators. That includes Zes, whose kiosk interface runs in all 81 provinces, and Electrip's high-power charging kiosk across six European markets. For a charging product facing these rules:

• Compliance Check (from €1,900, one week): Corexi runs the automated pass. A senior designer then reviews the payment, price display and receipt flows against AFIR and EPDK, and you get a fix plan ranked by risk.
• Kiosk & Embedded: design and build of the kiosk interface, including ad-hoc payment, price display and offline-safe flows.
• Product Partnership: for networks that want the app, web and kiosk to move together through each rule change.

We're designers and engineers: your counsel tells you what these rules mean for your network, and we work out how the screen meets them.