MPs on Tuesday gave the government a two-week deadline to enforce the law – which they say obliges car dealers to check and replace faulty Takata airbags free of charge – otherwise they would step in and regulate the matter with new legislation.

Lawmakers were frustrated specifically with the Consumer Protection Service that comes under the commerce ministry.

According to Disy MP Nikos Sykas, some 35,000 vehicles are subject to recall for defective airbags.

“God forbid we should have any deaths, then I wonder who will take responsibility,” he remarked.

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“This is a national problem, but we are hiding behind legalistic approaches, missing the substance.”

He called on the commerce ministry to ensure that no member of the public gets charged for an airbag replacement from now on.

The House commerce committee gave authorities 15 days to come back with specific suggestions or even a new bill that will address the matter and plug any loopholes in the existing legislation.

The issue is that the legislation states that “dealers” must check and replace faulty items free of charge. However, some businesses are calling themselves “distributors” – apparently in a bid to get around the obligation to provide this free service.

MPs heard that out of the 13 dealerships, two are still charging for inspecting airbags – though they don’t charge for the actual replacement.

Akel’s Costas Costa cited EU Regulation 2018/858 concerning the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles, transposed into Cypriot domestic law.

He accused the transport minister of “doggedly refusing” to enforce the regulation, which has been adopted by Cyprus since 2018 but “languishes in a drawer somewhere”.

Costa also referred to another EU regulation concerning general product safety. This regulation, he said, applies to both dealers and distributors.

The MP criticised officials of the Consumer Protection Service, summoned to parliament to discuss the matter. Instead of providing solutions, he said, the officials “tried to find excuses that, supposedly, these businesses are no longer dealers, they’re called distributors”.

Costa claimed that MPs have received numerous complaints from drivers who went to the two companies in question to have airbags replaced. The customers informed the companies of their duty to provide the service free of charge and cited the law – but the companies said they would charge nonetheless.

Those who then took recourse with the Consumer Protection Service were simply told that “we [meaning the Consumer Protection] can’t do anything, the companies are entitled to charge”.

Parliamentarians also voiced frustration on discovering that those who have already paid for the airbag check and replacement, are not eligible for a refund.