DMT Wants Private Garages to Issue Your Fitness Certificate — Trust the Switch?

The Department of Motor Traffic has floated a new "Road Fitness Certificate" that goes beyond the current emission test, and under the plan owners won't have to face a DMT inspector for it — approved private garages would do the check instead. Applications from garage owners who want in are already open, with full enforcement being eyed for around April. Supporters say this finally pushes Sri Lanka toward the roadworthiness standards other countries already run, and kills the queues and under-the-table culture at DMT counters. Critics ask the obvious question: the garage doing your fitness check is often the same garage that wants to sell you tyres, brake pads and a service package — what stops them from failing a healthy car to drum up work, or quietly passing a dangerous one for a regular customer? Emission test centres already have a reputation for stamping papers without a real check. If private garages take over fitness certification too, who audits the garages? Has anyone already had an emission centre pass a car that clearly shouldn't have passed? මේක ඇත්තටම හොඳ වෙනසක්ද, නැත්නම් තව දූෂණ දොරක්ද?