The Auditor General’s Department has unearthed a mega scam at the Motor Traffic Department to the tune of Rs. 6.4 billion involving fraudulent registrations and under-invoicing new vehicles as used vehicles. The state has suffered this colossal loss as new vehicles are registered under old registration numbers to the tune of Rs. 5.5 billion and the government loses another Rs. 900 million due to fraudulent vehicle registration.
Auditor General T. S. A. Samaraweera told The Island the racket had been going on for years, where newly imported chassis of vehicles were cleared from the Colombo Port and registered under old numbers. He said old motor cycle numbers had been removed from the records of the RMV department as there was no electronic data available and they were being fraudulently issued to SUVs and other luxury vehicles. He said that there was another scam where the Sri Lanka Transport Board bus numbers were given to SUVs.
All efforts to reach Transport Minister Kumar Welgama to get his comments proved futile as we were told that he could not be contacted as he was busy with SLFP reorganisation of the Kalutara District which he represents in Parliament.
By Ravi Ladduwahetty
IS