President returns law on fines for concealed car mileage: liability should target tampering with the odometer itself

The President has returned to parliament a law that would have introduced liability for concealing altered mileage from a car buyer. His comments state that liability should target interference with the odometer itself rather than the failure to inform the buyer. Deputies have withdrawn the law from reconsideration.

What the law proposed

The law amending the Code of Administrative Liability was adopted by the Legislative Chamber on 27 January and approved by the Senate in May. It proposed to:

• Add Article 178-2 to the Code, establishing liability for failing to notify a buyer that odometer readings had been altered or the odometer replaced
• Change the procedure for shortening a driving or hunting ban

The President returned the document on 8 September with “a number of conceptual questions and objections”. This was announced on 15 September 2026 at a session of the Legislative Chamber.

Why the law was returned

The President’s comments contain two arguments:

• The experience of Germany, Poland, France, Canada and South Korea: liability should target external interference with the odometer to change its readings, not the failure to inform the buyer
• A new version of the Code with a separate procedural part is being drafted (Presidential Order No. F-30 of 7 May 2026); under the “Justice 2030” strategy, the draft is due by 1 April 2027

What happens next

Deputies unanimously withdrew the law from reconsideration. The odometer provisions will be addressed within the new code.

What this means in practice. There is still no specific administrative liability for “rolled-back” mileage. Buyers of used cars should:

• Check the service history
• Have the car inspected
• State the declared mileage expressly in the sale contract

Such a clause makes it easier to bring civil claims against the seller if the mileage proves to be false.

Photo: Sikander Iqbal, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)