Department of Motor Traffic to be computerised:

Foolproof on-line facilities on the cards

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Has the number of vehicles in Sri Lanka exceeded the capacity that roads could hold is a question pondered on by many. The Government took measures to increase vehicle import taxes a few months ago to achieve many objectives including the control of the number of vehicles entering the road network. The Commissioner General of Motor Traffic S.H. Harishchandra says that though there was an temporary drop in vehicle registration, it is now on a gradual rise.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic revealed that the Department is going to introduce may programs and facilities to improve services rendered to motorists. The computerization of the vehicle registration system and scanning of documents are a few of such steps to improve services.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: With the introduction of increased taxes on vehicle imports, was there any reduction in the registration of vehicles?

A: Registration of vehicles has reduced during the past few months. The lowest number of vehicle registration was reported in June and that was 24,762. That was a sharp decrease compared to the 48,421 vehicles registered in January this year. But this number is again on the increase in July, August and September. Gradually the registration of vehicles has gone up to 27,000 from July. We saw a big drop in the registration of three wheelers and motor cycles. But that is also picking up as the number of three wheelers registered in September has gone upto 8,038. We saw only a slight change in the registration of other vehicles such as cars, buses and dual purpose vehicles.

If we take the number of new vehicles registered on an annual basis, 223,842 vehicles have been registered with the Motor Traffic Department in 2004 and that number has gone up to 525,421 in 2011. The number of new vehicles registered so far is 315,902. We hope that number will exceed 400,000 within the next two months.

Q: Do you think that the increased taxes on vehicles was the prime reason for the reduction in the number of vehicles registered with the Motor Traffic Department?

A: Yes. The increased taxes on vehicles was the prime reason for the reduction in vehicle registration. We had 48,421 vehicles registered in January this year and in February we had 42,791 registrations. In March, 48,161 vehicles were registered with us. Taxes on vehicles were increased in March and registrations dropped systematically. The most hit by this tax increase were the motor cycles. The number registered dropped from 23,253 in January this year to 11,600 in July. But this situation continued only for a few months and that will gradually increased.

At the same time the registration of some vehicles such as tractors, hand tractors and other dual purpose vehicles changed due to other reasons. When farmers get a good harvest, they buy tractors, three wheelers and motor cycles. This is also a reason for the drop in vehicle registration.

Q: One of the primary arguments for the increase in taxes for vehicles was to have a control on the vehicle flow into the country. Do you think that the measures taken by the Government to control that number was effective?

A: By the time the decision to increase taxes was taken, the number of vehicles was 4.5 million. This has caused traffic congestion on the roads as the road network could not cope up with the number of vehicles. The objective of increasing taxes was to reduce the number of large vehicles but it has had a big impact on three wheelers and motor bicycles.

Q: Do you think that the number of vehicles in Sri Lanka has increased with the development of the country or are we having an excessive number of vehicles in the country?

A: According to international indicators, when the per capita income of a country exceeds $1000, the number of motor cycles increase. When the per capita income is between $ 1000 to 2000 the number of small cars increase. This is the same trend in Sri Lanka. The number of motor cycles and three wheelers increased dramatically in the past few years and now we can see the number of small cars are gradually increasing. New vehicles on the roads will also increase in the years to come.

Q: As you mentioned the number of three wheelers imported is high compared to other vehicles. This situation also causes many problems. Under these circumstances don't you think that we need to have a control over the import of three wheelers?

A: At present the number of three wheelers in Sri Lanka is about 700,000. Statistics reveal that these three wheelers are causing traffic congestion in the cities. With the increase of vehicle taxes the number of the three wheelers imported also dropped by nearly 40 percent. Compared to the 12,779 three wheelers registered in January this year only 4,340 registered in June.

Q: The Motor Traffic Department will introduce a Driver Improvement Point system. What is the objective behind the introduction of this system and what are the arrangements made to implement this system?

A: What we did earlier was to fine drivers when they violate road rules. But we have realised that we cannot control road rule violation only by imposing fines. They pay the fine and repeat the same mistake. Therefore, this system is not effective enough to stop them from violating road rules. The Motor Traffic Department will implement the Driver Improvement Points system which is being implemented in developed countries. The Department has made legal provision for the implementation of this system and the gazette notification in this regard has already been issued. There are 21 offences under this system and the marks to be reduced for each offence will be from two pints to 10 points.

Q: Have all the traffic offences been included under this new system?

A: No. All the traffic offences are not included in this system. There are so many other traffic offences that do not come under this system. For instance drunken driving and fatal accidents are not included. They were not included as they have to be settled in Courts. There are so many other offences that do not come under this category. But at the same time the Court can also give a ruling to reduce marks if these cases are referred to the Courts.

Q: How did this mechanism come into effect and what are the other institutions involved in this process?

A: The Motor Traffic Department, The Police Department and the Courts are involved in this process. The Police Department and the Courts also providing us information and we are feeding those data into our system.

Q: How are you getting required technical assistance and training for the implementation of this program?

A: The Motor Traffic Department has its systems to feed data obtained from the Police and Courts. Since the Police Department and the Courts do not have computer networking what we will have to do is to feed the data manually to our system. Once the Police Department and the Courts develop their computer network then we will be able to do it through the computer networks.

Q: The Smart Card driving licence system was introduced in 2009. What is the progress of this new driving licence system how far has the Department been able to replace the old driving licence system with this new smart card system?

A: We introduced the Smart Card driving licence system in 2009. It has a micro chip and all the data regarding the driving licence holder included in that. From that anyone can obtain the birth certificate and other details of the person apart from the data mentioned in the card. At present we have issued 1.6 million and there are 3.6 million driving licence holders in the country. There are two million driving licence holders and out of that we believe that only 800,000 people are in a position to drive considering their age.

Q: How can people having the former driving licence obtain this Smart Card type driving licence?

A: Any one can obtain this new licence. If they have the old driving licence and the national identity card then these documents are clear enough to identify the person, they can obtain this new driving licence. If the identity card is not clear they should take the birth certificate and the identity card to obtain the new driving licence. For heavy vehicle driving licences we need a medical certificate about the fitness of the person. For light vehicles also we need a medical certificate but not like in the case of heavy vehicles. Once they submit these documents they can obtain the new driving licence from us.

Q: Do they need to come to the Narahenpita office or can they obtain it from regional offices?

A: They can obtain it from the one day service at our office. Otherwise they can obtain it from Divisional offices after submitting these documents. In addition to the Narahenpita office, they obtain the licences from the Anuradhapura office and Hambantota offices directly like the way they obtain it from the Werahera office.

Q: The Department also initiated a program to issue driving licences for auto vehicles?

A: Yes, we issue driving licence for auto vehicles also. When we indicate auto vehicles, it means the licence is only for auto vehicles. If there is no mention about the vehicle type the licence is for manual driving.

Q: What is the mechanism used to monitor vehicle emission?

A: At present we have about 19 centres to do the vehicle emission testing. To do inspections, the Environment Ministry, Motor Traffic Department and the Weights and Measures Unit is working together to see whether these centres are functioning properly. To do this effectively we are hoping to inspect these centres with the help of examiners of the Motor Traffic Department scattered in districts and obtain reports about the centre on monthly basis. To support them we will get the support of the Environment Ministry officials and the Weights and Measures Unit officials. In addition to this we are also hoping to test vehicles through mobile units. Where vehicles emitting smoke and check the vehicle emission testing certificates and make necessary clarifications after conducting checks on the spot. If we feel that the certificates has been issued without conducting proper tests we will be able to take appropriate action against those who have issued those certificates.

Q: When are you going to implement this?

A: We are hoping to start this process in a weeks time. For this we need to have the support of the Police Department, Central Environmental Authority officials and an official from the Weights and Measurement Unit if possible. We are trying to implement this system soon with the available officials.

Q: As a Department relating to motor vehicles what measures can the Department take to control the flow of used vehicles to avoid a dumping ground for used vehicles?

A: Though it appears that this is our responsibility, it is handled by the Import and Export Department under the Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry has forwarded some rules to control the import of used vehicles. Earlier they allowed the import of three years used vehicles. Later it was reduced to two years. Gradually we will be able to import only brand new vehicles.

Q: At present there are inexperienced drivers engaged in passenger transportation, risking the lives of passengers. As the Commissioner General of the Motor Traffic Department do you have any plan to issue special driving licence for those engage in passenger transportation?

A: On principle I agreed with this situation. In the Motor Traffic Act there are provisions to implement such a mechanism. We have conducted several discussions in this regard and we are hoping to add a new category for passenger transportation vehicles. I am of the opinion that it is better to issue this licence only to those who have five years experience in driving vehicles. Even at present no driver under the age of 20 can obtain a heavy vehicle driving licence. We are hoping to conduct a survey and find a suitable method and to implement that with the consultation of the Transport Ministry.

Q: What are the facilities available for people to register their vehicles within the shortest possible time?

A: We have a one-day service at our office and those who are having all the documents can get it done within a day. They may be facing difficulties when there are no proper documents. To make this facility more easier we are thinking of introducing a web based documentation system for the registration of vehicles. To implement this system we need to do the identification, documentation and payments. We have to do that on-line if we are to speed up the process. Documentation could be done on-line and payments can also be done through credit cards. But we are facing difficulties with the accuracy of the documents. We have to find a mechanism to minimise errors from the inputs and also from our side. Only then we can fulfil that task. We are in the process of trying to do that.

Q: What are your plans to make the services rendered by your office more efficient?

A: We are hoping to scan all documents in the department and store them in computers. At present we have more than 13.5 million documents within this Department. It is an extremely difficult task to trace documents from these stores. There are eight container loads of documents and another two storied building filled with documents. It is extremely difficult to trace documents. That is why some irregularities occur in this Department because the possibility is high for such situations. That is why we thought of scanning the documents and storing them in computers. Cabinet approval for this has been obtained by the Minister this week. Then we will be able to start scanning documents enabling the owner to keep the original documents. Then we can trace any document in future.

We are going to save them without anyone removing them from our files. Then people will be able to join us from remote places. Now also they can obtain the details of the vehicles after visiting our website and making payments through internet after feeding the chassis number. People will be able to see what is happening here from even remote areas, thus confining the number of people coming here for their services.

Q: Will there be any change in the vehicle registration numbers?

A: At present we have started issuing triple letter registration numbers to three wheelers. We can register 6.4 million three wheelers under this numbering system. There are other suggestions to issue different numbers for different vehicles. Like that we will be able to develop a unique numbering system in the near future.