Licence plate delays affect over 165,000 new vehicles
New vehicle owners numbering over 165,000 who have waited for over five months without number plates, are forced to hang on for at least another three months owing to a cancelled contract after 25 years with the previous supplier, issues relating to the new tender process and delays in security feature accreditation.
The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) has a significant plate backlog of new vehicles including 127,745 motorcycles and 25,526 electric cars awaiting plates by September this year and as a temporary measure, new owners have been allowed to use their vehicles with a letter confirming the registration, an official of the department said.
The previous contract with the number plate supplier ended in April 2025, causing a halt in production because there was no immediate alternative vendor. The process to find a new vendor has been plagued by delays due to “technical and procurement issues” in the tender process, he added.
The core of the delay lies in the inspection of seven critical security features designed to prevent counterfeiting of licence plates.
Responsibility for testing these features was assigned to the University of Moratuwa, but in three months, only six features were examined.
The seventh, requiring international level verification, remains untested, effectively halting the issuance process. The official noted that new number plates cannot be issued legally without this final certification delaying the process for nearly half a year.
This technical delay was due to the monopolistic hold of a single supplier, he said adding that Access International (Pvt) Ltd has produced vehicle number plates since 2000.
Despite tender renewals in 2008 and 2019, this long-term exclusiveness has created operational inflexibility and procedural bottlenecks.
Three companies have submitted bids for the new tender, he added. Yet the process is stalled as Access International has filed an appeal with the Presidential Secretariat, preventing the DMT from finalising procurement and beginning plate distribution.
Motor Vehicle Commissioner General Kamal Amarasinghe outlined that the new plates are being manufactured to stringent ISO 7591-1982 international standards. The plates’ aluminum substrate must comply with ASTM B209 standards and a minimum purity of 99 per cent, with a 1-millimeter thick front anodised or chrome-plated reflective layer of at least 120 micrometers.
The back side will also receive similar treatment and a clear epoxy protective varnish with a minimum thickness of 4 micrometres. Adherence to all international testing standards is compulsory, and manufacturers have to submit verification certificates before plates are issued.
The new tender and participation of multiple companies offer hope but the resolution of Access International’s appeal and completion of the remaining security feature testing are now urgent.
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