News
Two-month wait for number plates as DMT faces supply crisis
View(s):By Dilushi Wijesinghe
New vehicle owners will have to wait at least two more months to receive licensed number plates, although the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) is in top gear to resolve the supply crisis.
The DMT has submitted a procurement request to secure number plates from a new supplier, Commissioner General Kamal Amarasinghe said, expressing hope that the process will be completed within two months.
“We’re most likely to finish the procurement process within that timeframe, and then we can start issuing number plates again,” he told the Sunday Times.
Until such time, new vehicle owners are being issued printed paper number plates and a letter from the DMT confirming their registration details.
The Commissioner General said the police had also been informed of the stopgap measure.
The number plate shortage arose after the DMT’s official supplier terminated its agreement with the department. “The provider has stopped producing number plates for us because they sent us a letter of demand, terminating our agreement,” Mr Amarasinghe said.
A Cabinet-appointed negotiation committee was tasked with addressing the dispute, but efforts to reach a solution have been slow. “They scheduled a meeting last week but didn’t turn up,” Mr Amarasinghe said. “They’ve promised to propose a new date.”
After spending millions of rupees on a new vehicle, we find ourselves driving around with paper plates, a new vehicle owner lamented.
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