The Egyptian car market has been wondering about the fate of cars for the disabled after the customs cut on European cars to 0%. Most are curious to see what the government will provide to people with disabilities after removing the customs that it once subsidised for them. In December 2017, parliament amended Article 31 of the people with disability draft bill on the exemptions of cars for people with disabilities. The law was then published in the Official Gazette on 20 February 2018. According to the amendments, the individual passenger cars designed for people with disabilities (PwD) are exempted from custom tariffs under the same condition in sub article 3. The cars cannot be sold for five years from the date of the customs release, whether through proxy or by primary or final sale or otherwise, and cannot be used in other than the intended purpose. The traffic departments must give the vehicles special license plates. The car cannot be driven except by the PwD if their conditions permits. The executive regulations of this Law shall specify the rules, procedures, and controls of exemptions in each of the mentioned cases in coordination with the ministry of finance. In this context, Mohamed Al-Okabi, media advisor to the ministry of social solidarity, said that the government has already approved the full exemption for the disabled as mentioned previously. The laws have been sent to the competent authorities that should activate the bylaws as soon as they are completed. He ruled out the offering of any facilities or any additional means of support for handicapped vehicles, as previously rumoured about the government paying part of the real price of the car. Badawy Ibrahim, a customs expert, said that the awareness of the laws of PwD must be spread, as they guarantee many rights for disabled people. He added that the subsidy on disabled cars is that the government waives a certain amount of the customs tax, and it is calculated as EGP 20,000 for the disabled since birth, EGP 25,000 for the handicapping injury during work, and EGP 45,000 for those handicapped due to a war injury. VAT is exempted, in accordance with Value Added Law No 67, and buyers pay only the development fee. The new value in the new law will reach EGP 60,000 on all disabled categories. The buyer will then pay the additional cost. That means that the payment is divided into two parts, the first is below EGP 60,000, which is totally exempted, and the second is above EGP 60,000, in which the buyer pays the overprice only. Paulus Ibrahim, owner of the Paolo company for the trade of cars equipped with medical equipment in Port Said, said that recession had hit the market since February, after the rumours of the removal of customs on European cars in full, as buyers believe that car prices may fall by a large percentage.
