Ministry denies claims of ‘map license fee’ on shopkeepers

ANKARA

The Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry has refuted reports claiming that tradesmen and shopkeepers will be required to pay a “map license fee” for sharing map or location data.

In a statement issued on Dec. 5, the ministry clarified that the proposed changes to the Law on Geographical Information Systems do not apply to small business owners.

It emphasized that the law exclusively covers real and private legal entities that generate income by producing geographic data as defined by the National Geographic Data Responsibility Matrix and explicitly excludes tradesmen who use location-sharing tools on social media or websites to assist customers in finding their businesses.

Addressing the controversy, Deputy President Cevdet Yılmaz described the claims as “completely unrealistic.”

“The information that a fee or tax will be levied on tradesmen who share location is absolutely untrue. This law concerns entities that profit from producing geographic data and does not concern tradesmen who share location on social media accounts,” he said.

The statement follows widespread media reports suggesting that businesses, including restaurants, cafes, barbershops and small retail stores, would be subject to annual license fees ranging from 1,750 Turkish Liras (approximately $50) to 1.75 million liras for sharing map-based location information.

The reports claimed that practices ranging from simple actions —displaying an address on a website or sharing location via messaging apps like WhatsApp — to broadcasting mapped weather and traffic updates in commercial media would fall under the scope of the proposed amendment.

The reports, which estimated that approximately 6 million businesses nationwide would be affected, caused widespread concern among business owners, who feared economic burdens and steep penalties for non-compliance up to 10 times the license fee.