The EU Commission is considering calls to draft new laws to combat mileage fraud as MEPs call for a clampdown.

5-12% of used cars sold inside EU countries and 30-50% of those sold across borders within the EU have been clocked, according to estimates

According to EU estimates, 5-12% of used cars sold inside EU countries and 30-50% of those sold across borders within the EU have been clocked.

MEPs – supported by automotive data and technology company Cap HPI – want a new set of rules that include cross-border national mileage data registers. This would mean that used car buyers would be able to verify the accuracy of an odometer reading, regardless of the EU country in which the car was previously registered.

They also say that recording odometer readings should be made mandatory at each periodic technical inspection, each inspection, service, maintenance operation and repair carried out, and at every other garage visit, starting with the vehicle’s first registration.

Barry Shorto, head of industry relations at Cap HPI, said: “In Belgium and the Netherlands where readings are collected more frequently than elsewhere, odometer fraud has been almost eradicated. We fully support calls for mileage alternation or clocking to be made a criminal offence. Even though clocking has a negative impact on road safety, only six EU countries recognise odometer manipulation as a criminal offence.”

MEPs have also asked the EU Commission to monitor how manufacturers give effect to the tamper-protection strategies required by current EU rules and to set clear criteria for effectively checking that odometers are tamper-proof.

The EU Commission will now have to table a legislative proposal or justify why it has not done so to the EU Parliament.