Driving licence printing operations by MTD
The Motor Traffic Department (MTD) is now ready to take over the drivers’ licence printing operations from the Sri Lanka Army which was entrusted with the task by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on January 1, 2021, MTD Commissioner General Nishantha Anuruddha Weerasinghe told the Business Times.
The department will take over this responsibility from September 1 after the expiry of the two year agreement entered with the Sri Lanka Army, he disclosed.
The MTD has the ability and expertise to handle these operations and several officers have received training on the Werahera branch licence printing branch functions, he added.
Printing of driving licences was previously carried out for more than 15 years by a private firm in collaboration with a foreign company as a joint venture without any hindrance.
The Sri Lanka‘s National Smart Card Based Driver’s Licence system was scheduled to undergo a technological and functional overhaul with a new and complete IT solution by partnering with a suitable private firm at the time of taking over the operations by the army, official sources confirmed.
The scope of this procurement included ‘Designing, Developing, Testing, Installing, Commissioning, Operating and maintaining the Information System under (Build-Own-Operate) BOO Model, they revealed.
A Standard Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC) and Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) were appointed to complete this procurement process and the preparation of Request for Proposals also concluded by that time.
But in a surprise visit to the MTD Werahera branch the then President had taken a hasty decision to hand over the drivers’ license printing activities to the Army without considering this ongoing system change.
On a recommendation made by the then President the Cabinet on July 1, 2020 decided to hand over the printing process of the driving licence managed by a private company to the Army.
Sri Lanka Army Signallers also set up an Army Information Technology Solutions Centre (AITSC), embarking on this new project of national significance associated with the printing process of national driving licences.
The MTD Commissioner General added that temporary driving licenses have been issued with a security code and a validity period of one year due to the shortage of printing cards.
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