Is there an Israeli-origin firm involved? Statement on UTTS from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance!

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance has issued a statement regarding the National Vehicle Recognition System (UTTS).

In the statement published on the Ministry's website, it was argued that "baseless" allegations regarding the UTTS project have been persistently brought to the agenda by certain circles.

Emphasizing that it was necessary to make a statement in this context, the announcement noted that billions of liras in tax revenue are lost each year due to the issuance of irregular receipts and invoices in fuel sales, and that these losses continue to increase every year.

The statement drew attention to the fact that license plate information is currently entered manually into new-generation cash registers and that fuel sales are made with vehicle tags distributed without verifying registration information in existing vehicle recognition systems.

Stating that tax losses occur as a result of expenses being irregularly claimed for vehicles that do not belong to the business for these reasons, the statement included the following expressions:

"Fuel sales in our country reach 995 billion annually. Irregular documentation in fuel sales will end with the UTTS, thanks to the prevention of manual license plate entry, and tax losses will be prevented. In order to carry out the UTTS Project, a tender was held by the General Directorate of the Mint and Stamp Printing House in November 2023, in accordance with the Public Procurement Law and open to competition, and the establishment and implementation of the UTTS were ensured in less than 1 year. Taxpayers operating fuel stations and commercial vehicle owners are required to complete the necessary application and registration procedures at utts.gov.tr by January 31, 2025, for the TTO, TTB, and other equipment they are obligated to install and use, and must have the equipment in question installed or mounted by April 30, 2025, at the latest."

"NO ISRAELI-ORIGIN FIRM IS INVOLVED IN ANY CAPACITY"

Pointing out that more than 1,500 authorized TTB installation firms and over 4,000 technicians trained in this field are continuing TTB installations on vehicles across the country with great speed, the following information was shared in the statement:

"As of today, the number of ordered TTBs is 1.1 million, and the number of fuel stations registered in the UTTS is at the level of 4 thousand. Within the scope of the UTTS, TTBs are programmed by the General Directorate of the Mint and Stamp Printing House using domestic software. All data obtained is stored in data centers located in Turkey. In addition to our General Directorate, 3 domestic firms have been authorized by the Mint to produce and sell fuel station equipment, thereby ensuring the supply and use of this equipment in a competitive environment. The chips used in TTBs have been used safely by the Mint for years in the production of official documents such as Turkish passports and identity cards. Furthermore, these chips are already present in many components of cars for various purposes. Within the scope of the UTTS, chips produced by the Dutch-origin NXP firm, which is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, are purchased empty. All software and security elements of the chips have been developed domestically and nationally with the knowledge and experience of the Mint. Contrary to the misleading allegations that do not reflect the truth, UTTS technology is developed by Turkish engineers in a 100 percent secure manner. No Israeli-origin firm is involved in the production, programming, or importation of the chips used in the UTTS. We hereby inform the public that if these baseless allegations, which are being deliberately spread despite these clarifications, continue, we will exercise our legal rights to the fullest extent."

News Source: AA