Motor Traffic (Amendment) Act 2009 · As enacted
13. Amendment of section 18 of the principal enactment
Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
Section 18 of the principal enactment is hereby amended as follows :—
by the re-numbering of that section as subsection (1) thereof ;
in the re-numbered subsection (1) of that section by the substitution for all the words from “the
Commissioner” to the end of that section, of the words “the owner shall report such fact to the
Commissioner-General within fourteen days and shall also forward the Certificate of Registration to him and the Commissioner-General shall cancel the registration of such motor vehicle ;
by the repeal of the proviso to subsection(1) ;
by the insertion, immediately after subsection (1)
of that section, of the following subsections which shall have effect as subsections (2), (3), (4), (5) (6)
and (7) thereof :—
“(2) The Commissioner-General may for reasons to be recorded, of his own motion, cancel the registration of a motor vehicle,—
if he has reason to believe—
that it has been manufactured, assembled, fabricated, innovated, adapted, modified, or its construction changed, illegally or otherwise than in conformity with the prototype approved by the Commissioner-General ;
that it has been assembled otherwise than with branded new parts or without the permission of the manufacturer of those parts;
that it is mechanically defective;
that it fails to comply with prescribed standards of safety;
that it is stolen ;
that the identity of the vehicle is false;
that the chassis number has been tampered with;
that the applicant for registration of the vehicle has failed to furnish particulars of a previous registration if any;
that the applicant has furnished inaccurate particulars in the application for registration of the vehicle; or
that the vehicle has been imported with forged documents or that the application for registration contains a forged signature or is accompanied by forged documents;
where the motor vehicle comprises features which—
are not in accordance with the particulars contained in the application;
are not in his opinion roadworthy or which by reason of its design, construction or any condition thereof or any equipment thereof, are not in compliance with the provisions of this
Act;
require the prior written approval of the Commissioner-General for the import thereof and has been imported without obtaining such approval;
have been manufactured, assembled, fabricated, adapted, modified or the construction of which has been changed in any manner, without the prior written approval of the
Commissioner-General;
the registered owner thereof is dead, or cannot be found or that such vehicle has ceased to be a motor vehicle ; or
the registration of such motor vehicle has been obtained on the basis of documents which were , or by representation of facts which was, false in any material particular, or the engine number or the chassis number embossed thereon are different from such number entered in the Certificate of
Registration, after giving the owner an opportunity to make such representation as he may wish to make (by sending to the owner a notice by registered post to his address entered in the Certificate of
Registration).
The Commissioner - General shall, on receiving evidence or information to the effect that a motor vehicle has not been issued a revenue license for two consecutive years and has not been issued a Certificate of Non-user issued by the
Licensing Authority for that period, forthwith require the registered owner to produce a valid revenue license or such Certificate of Non-user issued by the Licensing Authority and surrender the Certificate of Registration within a period of one month. If the owner fails to produce the revenue license or such Certificate of Non-user referred to in this section, the Commissioner -
General shall cancel the registration of such motor vehicle.
The Commissioner - General may order the examination of any vehicle, and if upon such examination and after giving the owner an opportunity to make any representation he may wish to make (by sending to the owner a notice by registered post to his address entered in the
Certificate of Registration) he is satisfied that the vehicle is in such a condition that it is incapable of being used or its use in a public place would constitute a danger to the public and that it is beyond reasonable repair, he shall order that the vehicle be written off and shall cancel the registration of such motor vehicle.
If a motor vehicle is declared unroadworthy consequent to an accident or other circumstance the Commissioner-General shall suspend the registration of such motor vehicle:
Provided however, that if on application made thereafter by the registered owner, in a prescribed form together with the prescribed fee, the
Commissioner - General is satisfied that the vehicle has been made roadworthy and that it complies with the provisions of this Act and regulations made thereunder, he may remove the suspension.
Where the registration of a motor vehicle has been cancelled under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) or where the identity of the vehicle or the identity of the owner of such vehicle is in question, such vehicle may be considered for re-registration under this Part, provided that—
the owner complies with the provisions of this
Act and regulations made thereunder ; and
the vehicle is inspected by an officer authorized for the purpose by the
Commissioner-General, and an endorsement to the effect that the owner has complied with the provisions of this Act is made on the
Certificate of Registration.
Upon the cancellation of the registration of a motor vehicle, the registered owner shall cease to use such vehicle and shall return the identification plate to the Commissioner - General within seven days from the date of being notified of such cancellation.
(a) The Commissioner - General shall maintain a register of written off vehicles in accordance with the prescribed procedure, wherein information regarding motor vehicles that are written off, is entered. Such register shall be made available for inspection by the public during office hours.
Entries in the register of written off vehicles may be made, amended and removed only in accordance with regulations made hereunder.
For the purposes of subsections (7) and (8) a motor vehicle shall be written off only if, –
the vehicle has been damaged by collision, fire, flood, accident, trespass or other event or circumstances ; and
the insurer of the vehicle or, if there is no insurer, the registered owner of the vehicle makes a determination that the extent of the damage is such that the vehicle’s fair salvage value plus the cost of repairing it for use on a road or road related area would be more than its fair market value immediately before the event or circumstances that caused the damage.
An insurer of a vehicle referred to in sub-section (a) is taken to have made a determination under paragraph (b) of subsection (9) if the insurer—
allows a claim for the full insured value of the vehicle ; or
disposes of the vehicle to a third party.
A registered owner of a vehicle referred to in subsection (9) (b) is taken to have made a determination under that section if the registered owner disposes of the vehicle to a motor wrecker.
The Commissioner General shall ensure that a person who notifies the Commissioner General of a written-off vehicle, or who applies for an entry on the register of written-off vehicles to be amended or removed, is informed at the time of notification or application (as the case requires) that any information given or document submitted in connection with the notification or application, or a copy of such document, may be disclosed or used for investigation, law enforcement and allied purposes.
The Minister may make regulations regarding the disposal of written off vehicles, and the records to be kept in that regard.
Any person who contravenes any provision of this section shall on conviction be liable to a fine not less than ten thousand rupees and not exceeding twenty thousand rupees and on a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not less than twenty thousand rupees and not exceeding thirty thousand rupees.”.