What happens if I don't pick up the package?

You can pick up the card in person at AKD's address, Savska cesta 28, 10000 Zagreb, if you don't live at the registered address. Alternatively, you can request re-shipping via mail by paying the delivery fees.
As an alternative, the card(s) can be picked up by a parent with a birth certificate serving as proof of parenting, a guardian with proof of guardianship, or a proxy with a current, notarized power of attorney.
Note: Per the European and National Disability Cards Regulations (Official Gazette 157/2023), the cards are sent to the document holder's registered address in the Republic of Croatia. The Ministry of the Interior's pertinent registry provided this information.

In the Republic of Croatia, a person's residence is the location and address where they have made their permanent home and are able to exercise their rights and obligations for their family, career, economic, social, cultural, and other interests.

The following link provides information about registering or unregistering a place of residence: https://mup.gov.hr/gradjani-281562/moji-dokumenti-281563/prebivaliste-boraviste-329/promjena-prebivalista-odjava-i-prijava/281791.

Why did I receive the card if I am not a person with a disability?

The card you have received is a public document issued by AKD d.o.o. based on public authority under the Law on Privileges in Traffic (Official Gazette 133/23).

All data collected for the purpose of issuing this document has been collected and processed for the purpose of fulfilling AKD's legal obligation.

Namely, according to the aforementioned law, AKD has established a system through which, ex officio and without the submission of requests, among other things, issues the National and European Disability Cards.

For the production of the card, within the scope prescribed by law, AKD retrieves and processes data from relevant registers (the Registry of Persons with Disabilities of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and the registries of the Ministry of the Interior).

For verification or correction of data entered in the Registry of Persons with Disabilities, it is necessary to contact the Croatian Institute of Public Health at Rockefellerova 7, 10000 Zagreb, or via email at invaliditet@hzjz.hr.

AKD does not have the authority to change data in the mentioned registry.

I do not live at the registered address. Where can I receive the European and National ID card?

In accordance with the Regulations on the European and National Disability Cards, the cards are sent to the registered address of the Document Holder in the Republic of Croatia. This information is obtained from the competent registry of the Ministry of the Interior.

Residence is the place and address in the Republic of Croatia where a person has permanently settled to exercise their rights and obligations related to life interests such as family, professional, economic, social, cultural, and other interests.

Information about registering or unregistering residence can be found at the following link https://mup.gov.hr/gradjani-281562/moji-dokumenti-281563/prebivaliste-boraviste-329/promjena-prebivalista-odjava-i-prijava/281791.

What needs to be submitted to the ROI?

In the ROI, it is necessary to submit the findings and opinions of the expert bodies that you possess.

How to exercise the right to toll exemption privileges granted to me by the National ID card?

In accordance with the Regulations on the Procedure for Exercising Rights to Privileges in Traffic for Persons with Disabilities (holder of the right), when exercising the right to traffic privileges, it is necessary to present a valid National ID card to the highway manager and/or concessionaire in the Republic of Croatia.

The highway manager and/or concessionaire in the Republic of Croatia will verify the fulfillment of other criteria for using the privilege.

What is the accessibility symbol, and what is the European Parking Card?

The accessibility symbol used to be a public document issued in accordance with the Road Traffic Safety Act (Official Gazette, No. 67/08, 48/10 - Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, 74/11, 80/13, 158/13 - Decision and Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, 92/14, 64/15, 108/17, 70/19, 42/20, 85/22, and 114/22). It allowed vehicles transporting persons with disabilities to park in specially designated areas. They were valid for six months from the date of the Traffic Privileges Act coming into force.

The European Parking Card is a public document for persons with disabilities that enables the right to park vehicles transporting persons with disabilities in parking spaces marked with the accessibility symbol.

Currently, the adoption of the European Directive on the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card for Persons with Disabilities is in progress. Croatia is the first country in the EU to issue these documents to all individuals who meet the criteria specified in the law, which are verified in relevant registers.

What is required to obtain a European parking card?

The procedure for issuing this document is currently carried out directly by AKD, resolving it ex officio (no requests, no fees).

The criteria for issuing the European Parking Card are:

  • 80% or more physical disability, or
  • determined physical disability resulting in the inability of lower extremities by 60%,
  • residence in the Republic of Croatia.

AKD retrieves all necessary information to establish facts through the State Information Infrastructure from basic registers, including:

  • data on bodily impairment and/or impairment of functional abilities of persons with disabilities from the register maintained by the Croatian Institute of Public Health
  • data on the residence of persons with disabilities from the register maintained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs
  • photographs from the records of identity cards, travel documents, and driver's licenses maintained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Is the European parking card frail and should it be laminated?

The parking permit is made of a synthetic material highly resistant to mechanical and atmospheric influences, from which we also produce some documents. Additionally, the data on the parking permit are protected by a transparent lacquer resistant to UV radiation. The entire document has undergone extensive durability testing at an internationally accredited laboratory and has received confirmation of durability for a minimum of 5 years under normal conditions of use.

With the aforementioned protections, the document does not require any additional protection.

When does the issuance of the European parking card for persons with disabilities and the European and National identity cards for persons with disabilities begin?

The process of issuing the aforementioned public documents begins with the establishment of the Traffic Privilege Information System. To issue public documents, it requires implementing legislative regulations specifying the appearance, issuance methods, and usage of the documents. It is important to note that the initial issuance of public documents is done ex officio, without the user submitting a request.

What is the Register of Persons with Disabilities?

The Register of Persons with Disabilities (ROI) is maintained by the Croatian Institute of Public Health. The register is a comprehensive and systematically standardized record of persons with disabilities and children with developmental difficulties. It is continuously updated and includes prescribed data. Official records are provided to the register by:

  1. Institute responsible for expert assessment, vocational rehabilitation, and employment of persons with disabilities
  2. Institute responsible for mandatory health insurance
  3. Institute responsible for pension insurance
  4. Institute responsible for employment
  5. Ministry responsible for administration
  6. Ministry responsible for education
  7. Ministry responsible for Croatian veterans
  8. County administrative bodies responsible for education or administrative bodies of the City of Zagreb responsible for matters related to the rights of children with developmental difficulties and persons with disabilities
  9. Healthcare institutions at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of healthcare
  10. Other users of the Personal Identification Number (OIB) as prescribed by law, maintaining records of data
What is issuance ex officio?

To assist the end user, the legislator has foreseen the issuance of public documents in such a way that the holder of public authority first issues them directly, resolving ex officio based on official data provided from the Register of Persons with Disabilities and other fundamental registers.

How can one subsequently regulate their status in the Register of Persons with Disabilities?

By updating information about disability/disabilities in the Register of Persons with Disabilities.

What if a person with disabilities is not registered in the Register of Persons with Disabilities (ROI)?

Persons with disabilities can contact the Croatian Institute of Public Health via email at invaliditet@hzjz.hr. 

What is automated granting of privileges?

The process of verifying whether a person is entitled or not entitled to privileges under the Traffic Privilege Law occurs through automated verification of data from the Register of Persons with Disabilities (ROI) and criteria from the law. It involves checking other mandatory criteria in the central registers.

The connection between the criteria from the law and records in the ROI will be publicly disclosed (mapping).

This process means that individuals with disabilities do not need to submit their medical documentation and assessment-generated documentation to the issuing authority (AKD d.o.o.). Instead, the decision on granting or not granting privileges is determined through mapping (an IT process) rather than by an official.

Where can I collect the documents that you have issued ex officio?

Every person with disabilities who qualifies for public documents in the initial issuance process will have them sent to their residential address in the Republic of Croatia.

Does the "withdrawal" of the existing accessibility symbol and its abolition, i.e., changes in the type/nature of the document, affect the exercise of rights?

All persons with disabilities who have a regulated status in the Register of Persons with Disabilities and legally qualify for the European Parking Card based on the criteria from the law will have it sent to their residential address in the Republic of Croatia.

The new European Parking Card for persons with disabilities is fully aligned with the current proposal of the Directive of the European Parliament and the European Commission on the establishment of the EU card and EU parking card for persons with disabilities. The material from which it is made provides additional protection and prevents copying or misuse. The right to use parking spaces marked with the accessibility symbol, as before, is granted to individuals with 80% or more physical impairment, or those with a determined physical impairment resulting in the inability of the lower extremities by 60% or more.

Will it be possible to submit an application after issuance ex officio?

Yes, starting from March 1, 2024.

Does the new Traffic Privilege Law also entail new administrative procedures for persons with disabilities – i.e., will persons with disabilities have to visit institutions to obtain specific traffic privileges

All persons with disabilities who qualify for traffic privileges under the Traffic Privilege Law will receive documents at their residential address in the Republic of Croatia without the need to visit various institutions and without numerous administrative steps.

Are the data secure and protected?

The collection and further processing of data from the Central Registry are subject to regulations governing the protection of personal data, data confidentiality, and information security.

What does the European Disability Card enable?

Possessing the European Disability Card grants access to benefits outside the home country, especially in the areas of culture, entertainment, sports, and transportation, significantly facilitating procedures when traveling to another European Union country.

Has the enactment of the Traffic Privilege Law led to a reduction in the scope of privileges for certain categories of persons with disabilities?

The criteria for obtaining privileges in traffic have not been increased. The criteria for obtaining privileges under the Law on Transport in Regular and Occasional Coastal Maritime Traffic have not been redefined by the Traffic Privilege Law.The enactment of the Traffic Privilege Law was a prerequisite for introducing new documents, establishing the Central Registry of the