The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) has taken steps to address a major backlog by printing and issuing permanent driving licence cards to individuals who had previously been issued temporary licences due to a card shortage.
Commissioner General of Motor Traffic Kamal Amarasinghe stated that around 400,000 permanent licences have been issued so far to clear the backlog.
The initiative is being supported by the expansion of service locations for processing licences, including Werahera, Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Kurunegala, Hambantota, Gampaha, Anuradhapura and Jaffna as of February 2026.
He further noted that an additional 100,000 permanent driving licence cards have already been printed and will be distributed to temporary licence holders in the coming days.
The procurement process for a further one million licence cards has been completed, and steps will be taken to import them in due course, the Commissioner General added.