Sri Lanka will begin a six-month pilot of a driver demerit points system on October 1, under which motorists lose points for traffic offences and face suspension of their licence once the balance reaches zero.
The scheme was announced at a media briefing on Monday at the Transport Ministry auditorium at Maganeguma Mahamedura, Koswatta, Battaramulla, under Transport, Highways and Urban Development Minister Bimal Rathnayake, the Daily Mirror reported.
How it will work
Every licensed driver receives a fixed allocation of points. Points are deducted when an offence is committed, with heavier deductions for more serious violations. Once the balance hits zero, authorities gain the power to temporarily suspend the licence.
The pilot covers 33 specified traffic offences. Fines are not replaced — drivers still pay them, and the points operate as an additional accountability mechanism, NewsFirst reported. Drivers will be told their remaining balance on the payment receipt and by SMS after settling a fine.
All drivers using expressways and highways must comply during the trial. The system runs on a central digital platform that records offences, payments and deductions automatically, and is being implemented jointly by the Sri Lanka Police, the Ministry of Digital Economy, the Department of Motor Traffic, LankaPay and GovTech.
The pilot runs until March 31, after which the government intends to implement the system nationwide and permanently from March 2027.
The case the minister made
Rathnayake said road accidents kill more than 2,750 people a year in Sri Lanka and cost the economy between 3% and 5% of GDP, Hiru News reported — a proportion the Daily Mirror’s account did not quantify. He added that destroyed vehicles imported with foreign exchange represent a further dollar loss.
“A driving licence is not merely an asset or a right granted to a citizen, but also a responsibility,” he said. He stressed the pilot targets repeat offenders rather than occasional ones: “The impact of this system will be felt only by those who drive in disregard of the law.”
NewsFirst reported that Sri Lanka has recorded 1,897 fatal road accidents claiming 2,002 lives so far this year — a year-to-date count, against the 2,750 annual figure the minister cited.
Rathnayake said more than 30 countries operate versions of the system, and that studies from them indicate accident and death rates generally fall by 15% to 20% within 12 to 18 months. Hiru and NewsFirst carried those figures identically.
A start date the outlets do not agree on
The Daily Mirror gives the start as October 1 and NewsFirst as “this October”. Hiru’s Sinhala report, filed the same day, says the pilot begins from the end of September. All three agree on the six-month duration and the March 2027 permanent rollout. LankaNewz has used the Daily Mirror’s specific date, which is the only one of the three that is precise.
The 24-point allocation Rathnayake gave Parliament in June, when he first set out the scheme, was not restated in any of Monday’s reports, and none of them published the deduction schedule for individual offences. That June announcement targeted a September start, so the pilot has slipped by about a month.
Online fines
The government also said it has streamlined online traffic fine payment through Gov-Pay. That system was piloted in April 2025 on routes connecting Kurunegala and Anuradhapura and expanded islandwide in December 2025. Fines can now be settled through participating banks, financial institutions and fintech applications.
Additional Secretary to the Transport Ministry Avanthi Senarathna, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Traffic) W.P.J. Senadheera, Digital Economy Ministry advisor Sumudu Rathnayake and LankaPay chief executive Channa de Silva attended the briefing.
