Printing driving licence by Army: Rs.219 Mn saved within four months

• 29,982 driving licences printed as of April 30
• A code will be introduced in the future to replace the current licence with a chip

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya 

Sri Lanka Army has been able to save nearly Rs. 219 million revenue for the Government within a four months period after it took over the printing of driving licences. 

The Army said they had printed 29,982 driving licences as of April 30.  The Army is also in the process of adding several new features to drivers’ licences following the commencement of its printing process.  
Accordingly, with every driver’s licence, a code will be introduced in the future to replace the current driver’s licence with a chip.  The Army said the aim is to prevent a number of driving licence related irregularities and to facilitate law enforcement agencies in their duties. 

Also, the software used to print the driving licences was developed by a South African company, and therefore it costs a large amount of money annually.  Therefore, the Sri Lanka Army will develop suitable software for this purpose in the future. 

The Army said they have set up an Army Information Technology Solutions Centre (AITSC), which maintains records of 90 million driving licences. 

As per the Cabinet Decision taken on July 1, 2020, the process of printing Sri Lanka Driving Licences for the Department of Motor Traffic was handed over to the Sri Lanka Army with effect from January 1, 2021.