Provincial indicators on number plates out: DMT

The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) has decided not to print provincial indicators at the issuance of vehicle number plates from January 1, Commissioner-General Nishantha Anuruddha Weerasinghe said.

The letters were originally printed on vehicle number plates to trace a vehicle’s place of registration and residence.

The decision was taken to ease the process of the vehicular emission tests and annual revenue license issuance.

“However, both the customers as well as the DMT have to encounter many difficulties since the number plates have to be changed at each instance the right of ownership of the vehicles is transferred between provinces,” the Commissioner General said.

"Since a unique number is issued to each registered vehicle at its registration, the identity of each vehicle can be easily recognized across the departmental database,” he said.

However, he said that the fees for new registration and for changing the registration of vehicles with existing number plates remain unchanged. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)