The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) will begin strictly enforcing existing vehicle ownership transfer rules from 1 December, warning sellers against the common practice of handing over a vehicle on “open papers”, the Daily Mirror reported.
DMT Commissioner General Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Thushara Indunil Fernando stressed that the regulations themselves are not new and that the legal requirements for transferring ownership are unchanged. What changes in December is enforcement.
What sellers must do
Anyone selling a vehicle registered in their name must submit to the department, within 14 days of the transfer:
- the completed MT6 transfer form
- the revenue licence
- the vehicle’s Certificate of Registration (CR)
Fernando urged sellers not to release a vehicle on open papers, but instead to obtain the buyer’s signature on the documents and ensure the completed MT6 reaches the department within the stipulated period.
The risk to sellers
The Commissioner General framed the requirement as a protection for the seller rather than a bureaucratic formality. Until a transfer is properly registered, the vehicle remains legally associated with its previous registered owner — so a seller can be drawn into legal complications if a vehicle sold on open papers is later used for illegal activity.
He said the department was raising awareness of obligations that already exist in law, to discourage the practice and ensure transfers are completed properly.
Not reported
The report does not say what penalties sellers or buyers will face once strict enforcement begins on 1 December, nor whether the department will act on transfers already left incomplete before that date. No figure was given for how many vehicles are currently running on open papers, and no explanation was offered for why 1 December was chosen.
The Daily Mirror filed an earlier, shorter version of the same announcement on 9 October under the headline “DMT to enforce 14-day vehicle transfers from Dec. 1”.
