New Comprehensive Rules for Car Rental in Turkiye

New Developments

The Regulation on the Rental of Motor Land Vehicles (the “Regulation”), prepared by the Ministry of Trade (the “Ministry”), was published in the Official Gazette dated 15 August 2026 and numbered 33341. The Regulation governs short-term car rentals to consumers in Turkiye comprehensively and under a single framework for the first time, introduces an authorisation requirement for the sector, and will enter into force on 1 January 2027.

Scope

The Regulation applies to short-term rental services provided by merchants, tradesmen and craftsmen to consumers for a maximum of 29 days per customer, covering motor land vehicles registered in classes M1, M1G, N1 and N1G. Long-term rentals of 30 days or more, short-term rentals to non-consumers, shared (per-minute or per-hour) car sharing services and camper van rentals fall outside its scope.

The Regulation imposes obligations not only on rental companies but also on listing platforms that publish rental advertisements and on intermediary platforms through which reservations, payments or rental agreements can be concluded.

Authorisation Requirement

The Regulation’s most significant novelty is that no commercial car rental activity may be carried out without an authorisation certificate. The certificate will be issued by the local provincial directorate of trade through the Motor Land Vehicle Rental Information System to be established by the Ministry. It will be issued separately for each business and is non-transferable.

In addition to tax registration, chamber membership and scope-of-activity requirements, the person responsible for rental operations must hold a Level 4 vocational qualification certificate for car rental consultants approved by the Vocational Qualifications Authority. Employing staff without this certificate as rental managers or consultants is prohibited.

The minimum fleet requirements vary depending on the place of operation:

Rental vehicles must also be no older than 6 model years (except classic cars), must not exceed 300,000 kilometres for electric vehicles and 180,000 kilometres for other vehicles, must have no severe damage record and must be registered in the Information System. Where an authorisation certificate is revoked for non-compliance, no new certificate will be issued to the business and its related persons for one year.

Key Consumer Protection Rules

The Regulation sets out detailed consumer-friendly rules for every stage of the rental process. Rental agreements must be concluded in writing or electronically, preceded by pre-contractual information covering all charges, the parties’ rights and obligations and termination conditions.

In prepaid reservations, customers may cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the pick-up time; for cancellations within that final 24-hour window, a cancellation fee of no more than one day’s rental charge may be applied, provided this is stated in the reservation form. Refunds must be completed within seven days.

Security deposits are capped at three days’ rental charge for rentals of up to six days and seven days’ rental charge for longer rentals, and taking cheques, promissory notes, letters of guarantee or similar debt instruments as deposit is prohibited. Access to insurance and casco coverage cannot be made subject to any additional fee, and no charge may be imposed for late returns of up to one hour.

The burden of proof in the damage regime rests with the rental company. Unless the company proves that a malfunction was caused by the customer, the customer cannot be held liable. Damage claims require a report issued by an independent and authorised expert, and reports prepared by the company’s own personnel are inadmissible. Where vehicle delivery and return reports have not been drawn up, no damage claims may be raised against the customer.

Platform Obligations

Listing and intermediary platforms must verify authorisation certificates through the Information System before registering or renewing the membership of any rental company, must not allow unauthorised companies onto their platforms, and must ensure that authorisation certificate numbers appear in all advertisements.

The Regulation also prohibits unfair commercial practices by intermediary platforms against rental companies in detail. Failing to transfer rental payments to the company within five business days of vehicle delivery, using company and customer data without consent, retroactively amending intermediation agreements and demoting companies in rankings without objective criteria are deemed unfair in all circumstances.

Entry into Force and Transition Timeline

The Regulation provides for a staged transition:

For persons responsible for rental operations in existing businesses, the education, non-bankruptcy and criminal record conditions will not be required, whereas the vocational qualification certificate requirement will continue to apply. The Ministry may extend the transition periods by up to one year.

Conclusion

The Regulation transforms short-term car rental, which has so far operated under general rules, into a licensed, registered and supervised sector. Violations will be subject to the administrative fines set out in Laws No. 6563 and No. 6585.

Rental companies should review their tax and chamber registrations with a view to completing authorisation applications by 1 July 2027, plan the vocational certification of their personnel, and bring their fleets into line with the minimum size, age, mileage and hybrid or electric vehicle requirements by 1 January 2028. Contract templates, reservation processes and deposit practices should be updated to reflect the new rules, while platforms are well advised to prepare for Information System integration and certificate verification mechanisms in advance.

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