Statistics from the Department of Motor Traffic show that vehicle registrations have increased since 2015 despite a slew of taxes introduced by the government to curtail the vast number of vehicles that have flooded the already congested roads creating a multitude of socio-economic problems for the country.
According to the data, in 2014, 38,780 new cars were registered while 105,628 (2015), 45,172 (2016) and 39,142 (2017) cars have been registered.
Registration of motor cycles have increased drastically since 2015 as only 272,885 motor cycles were registered in 2014 while 370,889 were registered in 2015. In 2016 and 2017, 340,129 and 344,380 motor cycles were registered respectively.
Sri Lanka brought in a raft of measures from higher interest rates and loan-to-value ratios in a bid to reduce the number of three-wheelers in the country which have been largely held responsible for an increasing number of accidents. Three-wheeler registrations have dropped sharply as over 79,000 three-wheelers were registered in 2014 while only 23,537 three-wheelers were registered in 2017.
At the same time, the government has launched many initiatives such as introducing Sri Lanka’s first ever tourist friendly three-wheeler service recently where over 750 Tuk Tuk drivers were trained by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) under its tourist-friendly training programs in several districts.
Registration of new vehicles
Source: http://www.transport.gov.lk/web/index.php/en/statistics/department-of-motor-traffic.html
However, analysts point out that the current pace of yearly vehicle registrations is unsustainable for Sri Lanka which is a country grappling with a limited road network whilst being a net importer of oil.
They also said that claims made by various parties intimating that the current government made it impossible to own a car due to the imposition of taxes are simply untrue as evident by the increasing number of vehicle registrations.
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