Army to Transfer Driving Licence Production to Department of Motor Traffic

At the request of the Department of Motor Traffic, the Sri Lanka Army has initiated the process of transferring all responsibilities, associated with 10 online driving licence issuing centers and 15 offline centers across the island, including the printing of drivers' licences.

The Army following a Cabinet decision on July 9, 2020 undertook the responsibility in managing and improving the operations of the country's driving licence issuance centers by overseeing over 10 online driving licence issuing centers and 15 offline centers where the entire process from application to the printing of driver's licences got underway after the mandate was officially implemented on January 1, 2021 under the Army Information Technology Solution Center.

Since taking over the project, the Sri Lanka Army has made substantial strides in raising the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the driver's licence issuance system.

To date, they have successfully printed an impressive 2,434,467 driving licences, in addition to the production of 1,022,763 driving licences and 1,411,704 temporary driving licences. As a result of their diligent efforts, the government of Sri Lanka has saved an impressive amount of Rs. 810,799,495.90 compared to the expenses, incurred prior to January 1, 2021.

The Sri Lanka Army in addition to the main responsibility has embarked on various auxiliary initiatives to bolster the driver's licence system and related services. These include the implementation of an Environmental Monitoring System at the Werahera and Narahenpita Data Centers in collaboration with the Postal Department to offer "Speed Post" services for swift delivery of printed licences, and the establishment of a data disaster recovery center in partnership with Sri Lanka Telecom in order to ensure system resilience in emergencies.

Additionally, they have been instrumental in developing a cost-effective software system for licence printing and have proposed plans for conducting of online examinations at multiple centers.

In line with their commitment to financial transparency and standard formalities, the Sri Lanka Army has actively pursued procurement activities that benefit the government's coffers. Furthermore, they have improved the overall service quality, enabling applicants to receive automatic notifications about the status of their driver's licence through text messages.