Driving Licences Are 500 Pounds Cheaper From Today, and the Fire Extinguisher Rule Is Gone
From Thursday 1 October, Egyptian traffic units cut licence fees and dropped the requirement to produce a fire extinguisher, first aid kit and warning triangle when applying. All payment now happens once, at a single counter.
1 October 2026
Issuing or renewing an Egyptian driving licence became EGP 500 cheaper from Thursday 1 October, and applicants no longer have to produce a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit or a reflective warning triangle to get one, under decisions issued by the Ministry of Interior and reported by Egypt Independent in an edited translation of Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The cuts follow instructions from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi given at a joint meeting with the Cabinet and the governors:
- Driving licence issue and renewal: EGP 500 less.
- Vehicle licence issue and renewal: EGP 400 to EGP 600 less.
- Light motorised bicycle licence: EGP 500, down from EGP 700.
- Light motorcycle licence: EGP 500, down from EGP 750.
From the same date, traffic units are working to a 'single-window' system: the whole file is handed in at one counter, payment is made there once and electronically, and the licence is issued from that counter without the applicant moving between offices. Fees are those posted on the information boards for each licence type, and the ministry says nothing further may be collected under any heading — the one exception being traffic fines issued by the Traffic Prosecution.
The ministry also dropped the emergency and safety equipment requirement from the application file. The reported change concerns what must be submitted when applying for or renewing a licence; the report says nothing about what drivers must carry in the vehicle.
Ayman al-Dabaa, former Assistant Interior Minister for Traffic, said staff check and review the complete file at the single counter and the licence is then issued from it, and that traffic departments are adding barcode systems and proper waiting areas. Medhat Qoreitem, former Assistant Minister for Specialised Police, called the move an 'excellent step' and pointed to mobile licensing units and licensing centres inside shopping malls.
The decisions are national, so they apply at the Red Sea governorate's traffic departments as well. The report does not say whether the mobile units or mall-based centres operate in this governorate, and gives no total price for a licence now — only what has come off the old one.