Egypt passes new law fighting manipulation in used cars market

CAIRO – 20 September 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi approved a new Consumer Protection Act and Prevention of Monopolistic Practices law on September 13, 2018, which consists of 76 articles that aim to better control used cars markets.

The 35th article of the new law assigns the seller to submit a technical report about the vehicle’s exact condition and defects, issued by a licensed service center. In addition, if any defect that is not reported by the seller or the service center is detected, the seller will be fined LE10,000-500,000 or the exact price of the vehicle (whichever is greater), and the service center will be closed for about six months, according to the 64th article of the same law.

Moreover, if hiding a vehicle’s defect led to a permanent disability or chronic illness for the buyer, the seller will be punished by imprisonment and a fine of LE 100,000-1 million, or the equivalent value of the sold vehicle. Also, if the infraction led to the death of one person or more, the seller will be punished by life imprisonment and a total fine of LE 200,000-2 million or the equivalent value of the sold vehicle (whichever is greater).

The new law is supposed to eliminate the overpricing phenomenon, confirmed Atef Yaqoub, the president of Consumer Protection Agency during an interview with Misr radio station on April 21, 2018, stressing that the reservation of a new car will be through a receipt in which the car's specifications and price are clarified.

Yaqoub pointed out that the Consumer Protection Agency always puts cars section into consideration, as it simultaneously works to assign corporations to repair, replace, or refund cars in which industrial defects are identified, and that those companies which refuse to implement the agency’s decisions are referred to the Economic Court, which in turn decides whether those companies should pay the fine or not.

Law No. 181 of 2018 was approved by the Parliament on April 17, 2018 to be applied after being approved by the presidency, according to the 5th article of the same law.