30 Demerit Points Suspends Your Licence — So Why Hasn't Anyone Lost One Yet?

From October 1, every traffic fine in Sri Lanka also adds demerit points to your licence, and hitting 30 points means an automatic one-year suspension. The catch: this is a six-month pilot running till March 31, 2027, and no points are actually being deducted yet — police just text drivers what they *would* have lost, across 47 types of offences from speeding to lane violations. Supporters say this finally brings real consequences for repeat offenders, something a one-off fine never achieved, and it should make reckless three-wheeler and bus drivers think twice before the next overtake. Sceptics say a system with zero bite for six months teaches nobody anything, and worry that once it goes live, enforcement will depend on which officer is on duty that day, and whether your number plate or your connections get you waved through anyway. Have you or anyone you know gotten one of these SMS point notifications yet? Did the offence and the points match up fairly? And once real suspensions start in April, do you think this actually holds, or fades out like past crackdowns once the appeals and the phone calls start? ලංසු දඬුවම් වලට අමතරව දැන් ලයිසන්සුවටම පොයින්ට් එකතු වෙනවා — මේක හරියට ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙයිද කියලා බලාගෙන ඉමු.