Odometer Readings Sought for Annual Car Tests

TDT | Manama

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A proposal to record car odometer readings during Bahrain’s annual vehicle inspection has been studied by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee as part of efforts to curb mileage fraud in the used-car market.

Submitted by MP Mohammed Salman Al Ahmed, the proposal asks the government to link each vehicle’s odometer to the yearly test, with the reading logged electronically in the Traffic Directorate’s vehicle record report. Buyers would then be able to check earlier readings before buying a used car.

Al Ahmed said the proposal follows repeated cases of sellers lowering recorded mileage to raise sale prices. He said the practice harms buyers, weakens trust in the market and raises road safety risks by hiding the true use of a vehicle.

The proposal also calls for stiffer penalties for anyone found to have tampered with an odometer to mislead buyers. Al Ahmed said many consumers have weak means of checking a car’s true mileage, while the practice has spread in a way that makes an official record necessary.

The matter was among items studied by the committee during the fourth ordinary session of the sixth legislative term.