Commissioner General of Motor Traffic Air Vice Marshal Thushara Fernando says the printing of 673,000 driving licences has been halted due to a shortage of printing machines and blank cards.
He made the remarks while addressing the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport, Highways and Urban Development.
Fernando said the existing stock of one million cards was expected to be exhausted by January, while the first batch of two million cards under a new supply contract was scheduled to arrive by the end of March next year.
To address the shortage, he proposed seeking Cabinet approval to procure an additional 500,000 cards from the existing supplier to meet requirements over the next two months.
According to Fernando, the backlog of driving licences is expected to be cleared by the middle of next year.
Meanwhile, approximately 450,000 vehicle number plates remain pending issuance due to a shortage of plates.
