The use of secure payment system in the purchase and sale of second-hand motor vehicles has become mandatory

The use of the Secure Payment System, established by the Ministry of Trade and the Union of Notaries of Turkey pursuant to the Regulation on the Trade of Second-Hand Motor Land Vehicles (the “Regulation”), has become mandatory for all second-hand motor land vehicle purchases and sales made by methods such as cash, money order or EFT as of Friday, 27 September 2024. 

THE USE OF SECURE PAYMENT SYSTEM IN THE PURCHASE AND SALE OF SECOND-HAND MOTOR VEHICLES HAS BECOME MANDATORY 

According to this new Regulation, the seller is required to log in to the System and register information about himself, the buyer and the vehicle. The buyer, on the other hand, must log in to the System using the reference number sent to him via SMS or e-mail, confirm the information entered by the seller and transfer the vehicle sale price to the account number registered in the System. 

Vehicle transfer will not be completed by the notary unless the sale price has been transferred to the account number registered in the Secure Payment System. The Ministry of Trade itself stated that in order to avoid any pile-up of cases and unjust treatment in notary offices, the parties should complete the necessary transactions through the “Secure Payment System” menu on the web site of the contracted bank, electronic money institution or payment institution before going to the notary. 

What is the Secure Payment System? 

The Secure Payment System is a system established by the Turkish Notaries Association under the leadership of the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Justice, and put into service on 3 February 2020. The System enables the payment of the sale price securely through a bank, electronic money institution and payment institution during vehicle sale transactions at notary offices. 

How does the System work? 

The buyer and seller who wish to conclude a vehicle sale transaction apply to any “Intermediary Institution” and register the information about the vehicle to be sold in the System together with their own personal identification data. Once the registration process is completed, the vehicle sale price will be deposited into the account determined by the “Intermediary Institution”. After this stage, the vehicle sale transaction will be deemed to be completed as soon as the relevant parties sign the vehicle sale contract at any notary’s office and the vehicle sale price will be automatically transferred to the seller’s account. At that moment, if the sale price is not deposited into the account determined by the “Intermediary Institution” and blocked in this account, the System will not approve the vehicle sale transaction.  

The System has been introduced with the aim to eliminate any problems involved in handling cash payments, to ensure a fully electronic registration of second-hand sale transactions and to prevent any claims that the parties may have in connection with the payment process as such. Indeed, the automatic transfer of the sale price to the seller’s account as soon as the vehicle sale transaction is completed helps preventing legal disputes regarding the payment as well as situations such as forgery and fraud.