Alexandria- Controversy has escalated over the Egyptian government’s decision to stop importing cars for the disabled until the procedures for regulating their import system are governed and their access to those entitled to them is ensured, amid fears among people with disabilities of increasing the complexity of the procedures, which they describe as complex to begin with.
The National Council for Persons with Disabilities received complaints from dozens of people with special needs regarding problems related to the crisis of disabled cars detained at ports and imported for their benefit, after the Customs Authority decided to review import documents and papers for the last 3 years, after it was proven that some vehicles violated the requirements and customs clearance, and that able-bodied people received customs benefits that were not allocated to them.
Duty-free cars for the disabled are one of the privileges provided by the Egyptian government to people with special needs who wish to own a car at preferential prices that enable them to move and travel away from public transportation that is not equipped for their condition. However, in recent years, it has witnessed a great demand for it by some merchants and healthy people, which has led to the loss of the state’s rights.
The number of Egyptians with disabilities is about 11 million citizens, according to a report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics issued last December.
Pages specializing in selling cars for the disabled at reduced prices have become popular in Egypt after it became an established business with specialized brokers to provide the procedures and documents necessary for “healthy people” to benefit from these privileges, using legal and illegal tricks.
The Egyptian Cabinet decided early this August to take a package of measures to control the system of importing cars for the disabled from abroad, and to ensure that they reach those who deserve them. It directed the formation of a central committee from the relevant authorities in each governorate to inspect vehicles for people with disabilities, and to take the necessary legal measures against any person who has benefited from these cars without justification.
Counselor Mohamed Al-Hamasani, the official spokesman for the Cabinet, stated that one of the formed committees examined and reviewed the status of about 450 cars, and it became clear that some citizens who obtained cars in their names do not know anything about them and do not use them, but other healthy people are the ones who enjoy this advantage that the state grants to people with disabilities.
According to its statement, the Customs Authority decided to stop the release of cars for people with special needs, and freeze their import for a period of 6 months due to the existence of loopholes and manipulation in the import of these cars.
illegal ways
The former director of the Traffic Institute and traffic expert, Major General Maged Moussa, confirms the amendment of some procedures related to the import of cars for people with special needs, which the state provides with low customs duties, until the import process is regulated, after discovering that a large number of healthy people resorted to purchasing this type of car through illegal means, and obtaining customs benefits that are not intended for them.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, he pointed out that people with disabilities suffer from brokers and some merchants exploiting their circumstances, by bringing cars registered in their names in exchange for sums of money after writing customary contracts between the two parties, or by obtaining disability letters through illegal means, and in violation of the law, which stipulates that in order to obtain them, the applicant must hold an integrated services card (an official card proving the disability) to purchase luxury cars for less than half their price.
He explained that one of the methods of trading in cars for the disabled is to wait until the ban on the car ends, for a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years, and obtain a certificate of data from customs stating that it is not banned, and buy it from the disabled person after that period, and there is no objection to it from traffic and customs after the ban ends.
One of the beneficiaries of purchasing a car for the disabled – who requested anonymity – told Al Jazeera Net, “I do not have large sums of money that would enable me to buy a good car, so I was forced to buy a car designated for the disabled, exempt from customs duties, instead of buying another one through legal means with a price difference of almost double, after seeking help from a person with special needs and giving him a sum of money to give it up.”
New procedures and conditions
Nazir Shams, a 29-year-old person with disabilities, criticised the new amendments, which he sees as merely adding a new burden to the licensing procedures, and that people with disabilities fear that they will cause an increase in bureaucratic complications, given the difficulty of the current procedures.
In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, he considered that providing the dollar proceeds and foreign currency is the real justification for the recent government measures, while the disabled need real support and listening to their positions, to ensure the provision of realistic solutions and alternatives.
Shams pointed out that the majority of the disabled dream of obtaining these cars to help them move around and get a job opportunity, especially with the difficult economic conditions for the vast majority of them, and that most of them suffer from unemployment and the inability to benefit from any opportunities available in the labor market.
In contrast, Mr. Mohamed, a merchant and owner of a car showroom in Alexandria, rejected the accusation against importers or merchants of exploiting the advantages of exemption from customs duties enjoyed by cars for the disabled, stressing that the problem is that some people circumvent the needs of people with disabilities and obtain letters for cars exempt from customs and taxes in exchange for sums of money, which constitutes a violation of the law.
He stressed that due to the new decisions, the government is still holding a number of cars for the disabled at the ports, which constitutes a huge financial burden on importers and traders due to the grounds fine, as a result of waiting until they are released, in addition to their need for the car to carry out their duties and work for which they imported it.
He added, “The government could have put in place the necessary mechanisms to protect the rights of people with disabilities to use their cars without increasing the complexity of the procedures for obtaining them, including tracking those cars using modern technology, to link the location of the car to the address of its owner with disabilities, and to implement a ban on agencies for those cars.”
Stop importing cars for the disabled
In a related context, Member of Parliament Karim Talaat El-Sadat submitted a request for a briefing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, addressed to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Social Solidarity, regarding stopping the customs release of cars of people with disabilities in customs, in violation of the law.
Al-Sadat said in his request that over the past ten years, people with disabilities or those with different abilities have enjoyed full support from the political leadership, but the government has ignored this commendable approach by stopping the customs release of cars for people with disabilities, which has caused discontent among people with disabilities, especially since Law No. 10 of 2018 included a customs exemption for these cars that are imported from abroad.
But Member of the General Automobile Division of the Chamber of Commerce Montaser Zeitoun says that the government was not forced to suspend the import of cars for the disabled or amend the procedures for obtaining a car, as the original goal was to alleviate humanitarian cases and people with disabilities, adding, “The law protects the disabled and guarantees the punishment of anyone who manipulates and exploits the law for personal gain. The only thing that was supposed to be done was to enforce the law, nothing more.”
In contrast, Osama Abu Al-Majd, head of the Automobile Association at the Chamber of Commerce, believes that the new expected amendments will ensure a better distribution of cars for people with special needs, while preventing some from exploiting loopholes in the current system to achieve illicit gains.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, he pointed out that the market is currently witnessing a decline in supply, with the halt in the release of cars for people with special needs, which represent 25% of the volume of cars imported annually, which has led to slight increases in prices, but the release of cars detained at the ports will bring about a temporary breakthrough and stability in prices in the markets.
In turn, Dr. Iman Karim, General Supervisor of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, said that the recent decisions aim to hold accountable those responsible for the crisis, and to impose severe penalties on those who have been proven to have illegally obtained a car for persons with disabilities exempt from customs duties, and exploited their need and obtained, in one way or another, the car letter representing the support allocated to them.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Careem promised that the council would intervene in this crisis by communicating periodically with the relevant authorities in order to find solutions to the problem, including exempting cars of people with disabilities that arrived in the country legally from parking fines during the past period after proving the validity of their owners’ papers.
