RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2027 - Option A Wins, What It Means for IPv4 Holders
Quick answer: At its May 2026 General Meeting, RIPE NCC members voted to keep the flat-fee charging model (Option A). From 2027 the annual LIR fee rises from EUR 1,800 to EUR 1,894 - a EUR 94 increase. The category-based Option B, which would have scaled fees by the amount of resources you hold, was rejected. Crucially for the transfer market, no per-transfer fee was introduced. The EUR 1,000 one-time sign-up fee, the EUR 75/year per independent (PI) resource fee, and the EUR 50/year per ASN fee all continue unchanged.
What changed in the 2027 charging scheme
RIPE NCC funds its operations through membership fees, and every year members vote on how those fees are structured. For 2027 the debate came down to two models.
Option A - flat fee (won). Every LIR pays the same annual fee regardless of how many IPv4, IPv6, or AS resources it holds. This is the model RIPE has used for years. The only change is the amount: EUR 1,800 becomes EUR 1,894 to cover inflation and rising operating costs.
Option B - category-based (rejected). Fees would have scaled with holdings, so members with large IPv4 blocks would pay more and small members less. It was pitched as fairer but rejected over concerns about complexity and unpredictable bills for growing networks.
The vote was close, but the outcome is stability: the model you already budget for stays in place, with a modest EUR 94 uplift.
Full cost of holding resources under RIPE in 2027
| Item | Current (2026) | From 2027 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| LIR annual fee | EUR 1,800 | EUR 1,894 | +EUR 94 |
| New LIR sign-up (one-time) | EUR 1,000 | EUR 1,000 | No change |
| PI resource (per year) | EUR 75 | EUR 75 | No change |
| ASN (per year) | EUR 50 | EUR 50 | No change |
| Per-transfer fee | None | None | Proposed, rejected |
The headline for anyone buying or selling addresses is the bottom row: a EUR 500 per-transfer fee was floated in an earlier consultation and voted down again. Transfers on the secondary market carry no RIPE surcharge - you pay only the market price for the block and your broker's fee.
Should you consolidate LIRs before 2027 invoicing?
If you run more than one LIR, the flat fee is now the lever to review. Each LIR you hold costs EUR 1,894/year from 2027, so two LIRs is EUR 3,788 and three is EUR 5,682 - every year, regardless of how little you route through the extra accounts.
Consolidation makes sense when a second LIR exists only for historical reasons - a legacy signup, an acquired company, or a project that wrapped up. Merging resources into a single LIR removes a full annual fee. Two caveats:
- The 24-month holding rule. IPv4 resources cannot be transferred within 24 months of being received. If a block landed in an LIR recently, you cannot move it out yet.
- The PI / sponsoring-LIR route. If you only need to keep a small block visible in the registry, a sponsoring LIR arrangement (EUR 75/year per PI resource) can be far cheaper than maintaining your own LIR at EUR 1,894.
Run the math before the 2027 invoicing cycle: the fee is annual and compounds across every LIR you leave open.
What this means for IPv4 sellers
No new transfer fee is quietly good news for sellers. The 2025 correction pushed larger blocks to multi-year lows, and 2026 has confirmed a floor and early recovery. With no RIPE surcharge on transfers, the exit economics stay clean: your net is the sale price minus only the broker fee. If you have been sitting on a block and waiting out the lows, the combination of a recovering market and zero transfer friction makes this a reasonable window to move. For current pricing by block size, see our IPv4 price per IP guide, and see https://dcxv.com/ipv4 for a valuation.
The bottom line
The 2027 charging scheme is stability with a small price bump: flat fee, EUR 1,894 per LIR, no transfer fees, everything else unchanged. The one action worth taking is auditing how many LIRs you pay for - each open account is EUR 1,894 a year. Need a transfer or LIR valuation? Email ipv4@dcxv.com or see https://dcxv.com/ipv4.
