LNP – No additional burden on people from accident fees from budget: Dilum

The proposal made in the recent Budget to charge a fee for road accidents has been fixed by the government instead of the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) inspector inspecting a vehicle involved in an accident, Transport State Minister Dilum Amunugama said.

He said the government did not place any burden on the people over imposing additional charges for road accidents.

“After an accident, the vehicles are taken to the police station, and after that, vehicle inspectors have to conduct investigations before releasing them. The country has many vehicles and a higher number of accidents has gradually taken place, ” he said.

“The government has a limited number of vehicle inspectors. Therefore, a trend has been created to give bribes to the vehicle inspectors to get their jobs done quickly,” he said.

“Instead, for the above reasons, the government has assigned a fixed amount for heavy and light vehicles in the recent budget. The amount has not been decided yet by the government.

People will be able to pay the amount at the nearest post office and give the receipt to the vehicle inspector. The State Minister said it is the responsibility of the vehicle inspector to release the vehicles as soon as possible.

He further said that it has been proposed to reimburse the relevant fee through the Motor Insurance Institutions.