Drop in vehicle registrations

14 September 2016 05:02 pm Views - 11415

The number of vehicles registered during the first eight months of 2016 has seen a 50 per cent decline to 313,465 from the highest figure of 668,907 recorded in 2015, according to the latest data released by the Department of Motor Traffic.

Commissioner General of Motor Traffic A.H.K. Jagath Chandrasiri said 313,465 vehicles had been registered under the department in the first eight months of this year.

About half of them were motor cycles, he said.

“668,907 vehicles had been registered in 2015 and this was record. No any other year recorded such high number of registrations,” Mr. Chandrasiri said.

“The recent Customs Valuation Tax and increased VAT had brought about a change in interest rates which resulted in an increase in the vehicle prices. This may have caused low number of registrations,” he said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)