News
Motor Traffic Dept’s approval necessary for vehicle imports
View(s):Vehicle importers will be required to obtain the Motor Traffic Department’s approval for import by submitting the specifications of the vehicles even before they arrive in the country, a senior official said. Transport Ministry Secretary G.S. Withanage told the Sunday Times that regulations were to be gazetted soon and the department would not register a vehicle, if this procedure had not been followed.
In terms of the regulations, all vehicle importers, including the authorised agents of manufacturers, are required to furnish the details of the vehicles in advance, even if the vehicles are to be displayed in showrooms.
Mr Withanage explained that an E-motoring system was being developed at a cost of Rs. 700 million to enable the registration to be done online.
Thusara Suraweera, the Commissioner in charge of Information Technology of the department, said vehicle importers had to create a profile by providing their fingerprints and the photographs of the vehicles. A certificate will be issued for the vehicle while a sticker will be pasted on the vehicle on arrival facilitating the clearance. In the event, the documents are not available the vehicle will not be released from the port.
At the point of clearance, the fingerprints and the photograph would be checked. Mr Surwaeera said the system would enable the Government to have full details of the vehicles imported to the country and the numbers sold.
He said the new move would effectively end the illegal assembling of vehicles using spare parts imported separately.