The Regulation on Geographical Data Permits (“Regulation”), published in the Official Gazette dated 14 October 2026 and numbered 33400, entered into force on the date of its publication.
Companies operating in sectors such as delivery, courier services, real estate, travel, logistics and retail, which offer location services, map integrations or address/location-based features on their websites or mobile applications, are directly affected by this Regulation. If commercial activities involving the collection, generation, sharing or sale of geographical data are found to be carried out without the required permits, administrative fines may be imposed.
The Regulation repeals the Regulation on Geographical Data Permits, published in the Official Gazette dated 10 February 2021 and numbered 31391, as well as the Regulation on Geographical Data Licensing, published in the Official Gazette dated 10 February 2021 and numbered 31391. However, licences and permits previously issued by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change (“Ministry”) under the former legislation remain valid until the expiry of their respective validity periods. Existing permit and licence holders are therefore not required to submit new applications before the expiry of their current permits or licences.
Permit Requirement and Scope
- Natural persons, private-law legal entities, and foreign natural and legal persons are required to obtain a permit for commercial activities involving the collection, generation, sharing or sale of geographical data falling within the scope of the National Geographical Data Responsibility Matrix.
- Applications must be submitted by an authorised signatory through the Ministry’s electronic infrastructure before the commencement of the relevant activity.
- For legal entities with branches or those considered agencies, it is sufficient for the head office to obtain a single permit.
- The permit period may not be shorter than one year or longer than five years. Applications must be assessed and concluded within thirty days.
Activities Exempt from the Permit Requirement under the Regulation
- Address information requested for the purpose of issuing invoices.
- The sharing by companies of address/location data relating to their own headquarters, branches and agencies on their websites or social media accounts.
The permit fee shall be determined in accordance with Article 14 of the Regulation.
What Should Be Done?
We recommend that companies offering location/map features or processing geographical data promptly assess whether their activities fall within the scope of the Regulation and whether they qualify for any exemptions, and initiate the permit application process without delay if a permit is required. Companies that already hold a permit are not required to take any further action.
