What license is needed to rent a motorbike in Sri Lanka?

In most cases, you don't need a license to rent a motorbike or scooter, as rental companies usually don't ask for it. From personal experience, we have rented motorbikes many times in Sri Lanka and ridden hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, and only once were we asked to show a license when renting – that was in Jaffna.

However, to ride on Sri Lankan roads, you must have an international driving permit with category 'A' open. Even if you have categories M, B, C, or anything else, without category 'A' it doesn't count. Simple Russian plastic licenses are not valid here even with category 'A'; you need to obtain an international driving permit in the form of a booklet, which is issued by the traffic police and can be conveniently applied for via the Gosuslugi website. Again, from our experience, police do stop tourists on the road and actually check licenses and category 'A'. The official fine for driving without a license or without category 'A' is 25,000 rupees, which is about 90 US dollars. Some travelers report getting away with a bribe of a few thousand rupees on the road, but we personally have no such experience.

For detailed information on everything you need to know about renting a motorbike and what license is required in Sri Lanka, read the full article here - https://nashaplaneta.net/asia/srilanka/art-arenda-motocikla-shri-lanka

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