Provincial ID number plates discontinued : Dilum Amunugama

Blood tests and X-rays not a must for driving licenses

• Urine test mandatory for heavy vehicle driving licenses 

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama  

A new mechanism is to be introduced where the number plates will not have to be changed when transferring the ownership of the vehicle outside the province, State Minister for Transport, Dilum Amunugama said.  

He said according to the new process, each vehicle would have only one number, even when the ownership was switched between provinces.  

A policy decision had been taken to stop the issuance of number plates when re-registering vehicles during changing the registration of ownership, or transfer of vehicles between provinces and that the ministry took into consideration the high cost borne by the people and the practical difficulties involved, the state minister said   

“The persons who get vehicles from other provinces have to pay for new number plates according to the province such as Western Province (WP) or Central Province (CP),” he said and added that to minimise the process involved, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology would be introduced to automatically identify and track vehicles.  

The state minister said tag reading equipment would be given to Police stations and other relevant departments to identify the vehicle’s current owner and his details.  

“We have stopped the issuance of new number plates after surrendering the old plates at the Motor Traffic Department. A new process was implemented to courier the new number plates and driving licenses through State Courier service,” he said.  

According to the new procedure the new owner need not surrender the old number plate but on receiving a number plate, or a driving license, he or she will have to dispose of the old number plate or the driving license on their own,” he said.  

Meanwhile, decision was taken not to consider the blood tests reports and X-rays when applying for driving licences from yesterday but a report on these tests have to be submitted, State Minister said.  

He said many people faced difficulties when it came to carrying out blood tests.  

“People may have high blood pressure and diabetes or both. Having diabetes or high blood pressure is not be an obstacle when obtaining a driving license. If an applicant has high blood pressure, diabetes, or both, test results will give them an opportunity to be cautious and seek medical advise accordingly. Subjecting applicants to blood tests will continue as a service to the people,” the minister said.  

He stressed the need for a vision test would be the main criteria when issuing driving licenses.  

An X-ray to obtain a heavy vehicle or commercial vehicle licenses had been suspended but if the doctor feels that the applicant is suffering from respiratory problems, the doctor has the right to request for an X-ray,” the state minister said.  

• Tag reading equipment would be given to Police stations and other relevant departments to identify the vehicle’s current owner and his details.

It has also been decided to introduce a special urine test for those who apply for heavy vehicle or commercial vehicle driving licenses to check whether they are users of alcoholic or non-alcoholic intoxicants, the State Minister said.  

“We have received several complaints from people that those driving three-wheelers and buses are under the influence of non-alcoholic intoxicants. The normal alcohol tests will not reveal if a person is under the influence of non-alcoholic intoxicants. Therefore, a special urine test will be carried out,” the state minister said.  

He said the new test would reveal whether the person had consumed any non-alcoholic intoxicants not also at the time of the test but during the preceding months as well.