The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) has urged vehicle owners to collect their printed but unclaimed number plates from 2023 and 2024 before June 30, 2026, warning of administrative delays if the backlog is not cleared.
Nearly 100,000 plates remain piled up at the department’s Narahenpita head office and at district branches across the island, the DMT said in a notice carried by Newswire.
The backlog has accumulated from plates that were printed in 2023 and 2024 but never collected by the applicants who registered the vehicles.
Vehicle owners in the Colombo District are required to collect their plates from the Narahenpita main office, while those in other districts must visit the respective Motor Traffic Department branches located at District Secretariat offices.
For inquiries or further information, the public is advised to contact the DMT’s Number Plate Division on 011-2033333, the department said.
The push to clear the backlog comes after the DMT resumed number-plate printing in May following an earlier pause, and ahead of an enforcement cycle that has seen police crack down on altered and unauthorised plates in recent months.
Motorists holding only temporary plates while waiting for permanent ones — or those whose vehicles have changed hands since 2023 — are most likely to be affected by the deadline. The DMT has not said what specific administrative delay would apply after June 30 for plates left uncollected.
