Reuse of vehicle registration books needs to be stopped

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

UNP lawmaker Buddhika Pathirana urged the Government to prevent people from using registration books of rejected motor vehicles in vehicle assembly scams. 

According to MP Pathirana, the use of old registration books on assembling vehicles has led the Government to incur heavy tax losses.

Highlighting instances where auctions are used to procure old vehicle registration books, Pathirana said: “It is true that the Government receives a higher income from auctions compared to the estimates of the unusable vehicles. Certain yards, including the former Speaker’s residence Mumtaz Mahal, has many vehicles parked and exposed to adverse weather. It is advisable to prepare a timetable for these auctions. On the other hand, making use of the vehicle registration books of rejected vehicles assembly takes place. This scam needs to be stopped, especially by taking stock of those vehicle registration books and numbers.” According to the Government, the Sri Lanka Police Department had managed to raise Rs. 128.7 million recently by auctioning rejected and unusable motor vehicles estimated at Rs. 32.5 million. (AH)