Motor traders suggest one-day vehicle registration service
Motor traders are urging the government to introduce a one-day service for vehicle registration similar to the one day service facility offered by the Department of Registration of Persons and the Department of Immigration and Emigration when issuing Natonal Identity cards and passports.
In a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA) noted that there is a need to register vehicles within a day as the current process of registration at the Motor Traffic Department (MTD) and 25 divisional secretariats take two to three days and some instances more than three days.
This has resulted in certain malpractices such as forging documents and willful delays to solicit bribes in the registration of vehicles. The MTD will be able to collect additional revenue by implementing the one-day registration service for vehicles and charging an additional fee for this special service, the CMTA pointed out. The vehicle registration is a requirement to obtain leasing or finance facilities for the purchase of vehicles and the customers are willing to pay a reasonable fee for one day service, the association said.
The MTD is yet to introduce this service although the motor traders have made their representations on this matter to the Finance Ministry in several previous occasions. The CMTA also urged the MTD to implement the online document submission system for motor vehicle registrations to improve efficiency and reduce costs thereby making significant incremental contribution to government revenue while preventing mal practices. The association revealed that this online system already in place has not been implemented for reasons only known to the MTD.