What rights are needed in Sri Lanka

On the Internet, on tourist forums and blogs, many copies have already been broken about whether Russian or international rights apply in Sri Lanka, whether it is necessary to obtain a local permit and what will happen for driving without a license. Information on this issue is really extremely contradictory, besides, each traveler has his own experience, which he considers to be the ultimate truth. We tried to understand all the intricacies of renting transport and give an exact answer, what rights are needed in Sri Lanka for tourists:

• ✖ Russian and other national rights (plastic or card) in Sri Lanka are not valid in any case and with any translations and references.
• ✔ International Driving License (IDL or International Driving Permit) in the form of a booklet, which can be obtained at home in addition to national rights, in Sri Lanka is valid and accepted by the police. But not all car rental offices accept them for issuing a car and require a local permit. When renting motorbikes, no one usually asks for the right.

And now in more detail and with reference to regulatory documents:

What rights are there

First you need to understand what, in fact, there are types of rights, so that there is no confusion in terminology.

• National Driving License - these are rights intended for driving vehicles in the territory of the issuing country. In the Russian Federation, as in many other countries, now issue international-style national rights that comply with the Vienna Convention on road traffic. This means that they can also be managed in other countries that have signed this convention. But Sri Lanka did not sign it, so Russian rights and the rights of any other countries do not apply here.

  

• International Driving Permit (International Driving Permint) is a type of driving license that was originally provided by the international community for management in various countries. IDUs are issued in addition to and act alongside national rights. Made in the form of an A5 book in several languages. In the Russian Federation, IDUs are issued by the traffic police, you can get them through the site Public services, at the MFC or by contacting the traffic police in person. Issued without passing the exam after paying the fee, the procedure for obtaining is very simple and fast, without unnecessary formalities. In Ukraine, legal IDUs are manufactured by the service center of the Ministry of internal affairs - https://hsc.gov.ua/

  

All other varieties of international driver's licenses, which can be found mentioned on forums and websites - this is either all sorts of fakes, or just misunderstandings in terminology. ie there are no international plastic rights, there are no international rights received by mail via the internet on foreign sites, there are no translated rights IDL, IAA, IADC and the like.

Do Russian national laws apply in Sri Lanka

Russian national rights of international standard in Sri Lanka do not apply, and this is unequivocal and undeniable. Also the national rights of any country in the world do not apply, except those issued in Sri Lanka itself. And although you can often find in reviews and blogs how tourists and travelers quietly rent transport and even show Russian or Ukrainian rights to the police without consequences, in fact there are no legal grounds for this. You can ride around the country at your own risk, but when you meet a principled policeman, you will most likely get an official fine of 25,000 rupees (75.54 USD) or a bribe of 2000 rupees (6.04 USD). And, of course, in case of an accident, you will be found guilty in any case. If you are injured while driving a vehicle, insurance will also not work.

But there is a way out of this situation. On the basis of national rights, you can apply for a temporary permit (temporary driving license) in Colombo for 1000 rupees, or local rights for 10,000 rupees (local driving license). But more on that below.

Does international law apply in Sri Lanka

International Driving License (International Driving Permint) can easily be obtained in the Russian Federation and other countries in the local traffic police (MREO) without passing exams on your already existing national rights (see above). And these rights will be valid in Sri Lanka, i.e. you will not have to get local rights on the spot.

The IDP or International Driving Permint is provided for by two conventions on road traffic: Vienna (from 1968) and Geneva (from 1949). At the same time, Sri Lanka signed the Geneva Convention, and at first glance should recognize all international rights unconditionally. But there is a small subtlety, because of which many mistakenly believe that Sri Lanka is not obliged to recognize them, namely: the IDUs issued now in most countries, including in the Russian Federation, correspond to the newer Vienna Convention in terms of validity and format, therefore, in theory, they do not work in Sri Lanka. But this problem in the country was solved by an internal legal act. And now, despite the fact that Sri Lanka has not acceded to the Vienna Convention, the traffic rules of Sri Lanka recognize international rights issued by countries participating in the Vienna Convention and corresponding to its requirements. And it is such IDUs that are issued in the Russian Federation in addition to national ones at your request.

This is spelled out in paragraph 132b of the traffic rules of Sri Lanka (MOTOR TRAFFIC ACT), the full text of which can be viewed here or here. And here is the document that amended this basic law - motortraffic.gov.lk. These sites may not open or open very poorly, and therefore here is the content of this item as of 2022:

For some reason unknown to us, for many years this law was not in force or was not known to the general public, and all tourists always received temporary permits or temporary rights in Colombo to rent a car or motorcycle. And today, most rental offices refuse to issue cars without local rights or temporary permission. But there are also those who calmly issue a car upon presentation of an IDP (necessarily together with national rights, otherwise the IDP does not work), for example, known to all travelers in Sri Lanka Malkey - https://www.malkey.lk/, or Ameri rent car. As for renting two-wheeled equipment, the rights are usually never asked (with rare exceptions), but this does not exempt you from liability on the roads.

Important information about categories in rights

For the management of Motor two-wheeled vehicles (motorcycle, scooter, moped) in Sri Lanka, the category "A" is provided, for cars "B". No categories M, A1, etc.are accepted for driving even a low-power scooter. Therefore, if you do not have category "A" rights, then with any rights you will be a violator. "Register" this category when obtaining local rights or obtaining a temporary permit by legal means is unrealistic. In addition, you are required to present both national and international laws at the request of the police, and if a discrepancy is found, you will be fined 25,000 rupees (75.54 USD, see currency of Sri Lankaand exchange rate), and theoretically also for criminal prosecution for forgery of documents.

Registration of local rights or temporary permission

If you do not have a real IDP or a rental office requires them, then there are two ways out:

1. Issue a temporary permit (temporary driving license, they are temporary rights). Valid for one month on the basis of your rights in Colombo for 1000 rupees (3.02 USD). This document among travelers is also often called "endorcement" (endorcement)
2. Issue full local rights (local driving license). They are valid for one year, but already cost 10,000 rupees (30.22 USD). Their advantage is that, unlike a temporary permit, you can issue an impersonal presence through rental offices or firms (people). Usually car rental offices offer this service remotely, just send them scans of the necessary documents (passport and IDP). They charge for this from $ 35, but upon arrival you will already have a ready-made permit, and you can immediately go on a trip by car from the airport. However, please note that for the registration of these rights, it is the IDP that is requested, i.e. it turns out that you must get an IDP at home (or an authorized IDL translation on special sites), and then on their basis and for a fee to issue local vu. Therefore, if you win in convenience, this method loses a lot of money for personal obtaining a temporary permit.

If you are ready to issue a local permit to manage transport yourself, then for this you will have to allocate one day in Colombo, in other cities it is not issued. To do this, you must personally contact the Department of Motor Traffic at 341 Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 00500 (Office on Colombo map). It works from 08:30 to 16:00, Saturday and Sunday are closed, here is the site - http://www.motortraffic.gov.lk/. You need to have a copy of your passport, a copy of your driver's license, and a copy of your visa or ETA printout. On the spot, you will have to walk around the offices and fill out papers, which, depending on your abilities, language skills and luck, can take 2-6 hours. But you can use the help of local helpers who meet tourists on the approach to this building, and will help all pass for 1 hour and an additional 1000-2000 rupees. Current price for obtaining permits here.