Govt U-Turns on TIN for Your Revenue Licence Within a Week — Flip-Flop or Fix?

The government made a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) compulsory for renewing your vehicle revenue licence from 1 November, under an Inland Revenue circular issued in September. Within days, long queues and public confusion forced a U-turn — a Deputy Minister announced "temporary relief," saying people can still renew with just their NIC number, phone number and email, no TIN certificate needed for now. One side says this was the sensible call: nobody had time to register for a TIN in a month, and ordinary vehicle owners shouldn't be stuck at the counter over a tax-system rollout problem. The other side says it proves the rule was never thought through before it was announced — and asks what happens the day "temporary" relief quietly ends and TIN is enforced for real. If you've renewed your licence since 1 November, what did they actually ask you for at the counter — TIN, NIC, or both? And do you think we'll see another flip-flop like this on some other rule soon? ඔයාගේ වාහන බලපත්‍රය අලුත් කරද්දී TIN එක ඇහුවද, නැද්ද?