Sri Lanka cuts driving licence printing cost, saving Millions in public funds

Sri Lanka has significantly reduced the cost of printing driving licences after cancelling a previous tender and introducing a new system, resulting in savings of more than Rs. 1,133 per licence.

Concerns about corruption and irregularities in government tender processes have been raised for many years, particularly in relation to the printing of driving licences, the issuing process, and the maintenance of the related computer system. Observers say these issues reflected wider problems within state institutions in the past.

Under the previous arrangement, the government had been paying Rs. 1,392 to a private institution to print a single driving licence. The same company continued to handle the printing for a long period, which resulted in a large amount of public funds being paid to that institution.

However, the current government cancelled the earlier tender and called for a new one. Under the new arrangement, the cost of printing one driving licence has been reduced to Rs. 259. This means that an additional Rs. 1,133 had previously been paid for each licence printed.

The difference becomes more significant when considering the large number of licences issued. At present, around 400,000 driving licences are waiting to be printed. By producing these licences under the new system, the government expects to save about Rs. 453 million in public funds.

Further savings have also been reported in the maintenance of the computer system used to issue driving licences. Earlier administrations spent about Rs. 150 million each year on maintaining the system. Currently, the same work is carried out at a cost of around Rs. 20 million annually, resulting in an estimated yearly saving of about Rs. 130 million.

Officials state that the district offices in Werahera, Anuradhapura, and Hambantota now have the capacity to print around 4,400 driving licences per day. This includes about 900 licences issued through the one day service and around 3,500 licences under the normal service.

Based on the current cost difference of Rs. 1,133 per licence, printing 4,400 licences per day results in an estimated daily saving of Rs. 4,985,200 for the country.

Authorities say the introduction of the new tender process and changes to the system have made it possible to reduce costs and save a significant amount of public funds that were previously spent.