Do You Need a Grama Niladhari Certificate to Transfer a Vehicle?

Key facts

• You need at least one certifier — a Grama Niladhari, a Justice of Peace, or a qualifying staff-grade government officer — to certify one of your transfer photographs.
• A separate Grama Niladhari residence certificate is only needed if the address you're registering under isn't the one printed on your NIC.
• The transfer itself runs on two forms: MTA 6 (statement of change of possession) and MTA 8 (application for registration of the vehicle on transfer).
• You'll also need the original CR book, a valid revenue licence, and certified NIC copies for both seller and buyer.
• Married women changing their surname on the CR book must submit a certified copy of the marriage certificate.
• If the vehicle was under a lease, hire-purchase agreement, or bank mortgage, you need a release letter from that institution before transfer.
• Documents go to the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) head office in Narahenpita, a District Motor Traffic Office, or your relevant Divisional Secretariat.
• One-day service is only available at the DMT head office (and a few select branches); the normal service through a district office sends your new CR book by registered post within a few weeks.

Do you need a Grama Niladhari certificate to transfer a vehicle?

In most cases, yes — but it's usually a signature, not a separate document. The DMT requires one of your two transfer photographs to be certified by a Grama Niladhari (GN), a Justice of Peace (JP), or an authorised staff officer, according to the transfer document guidelines published by motorguide.lk. You only need one of these three people to sign, not all of them — so if you already know a JP, you don't have to track down your area's GN.

A fully separate GN certificate, distinct from the photo certification, is only needed in one specific case: when the address you're registering the vehicle under is different from the address on your NIC. In that situation, the DMT wants a Grama Niladhari residence certificate confirming you actually live at the new address, before it will accept your paperwork.

What exactly does a Grama Niladhari certify on your transfer documents?

A GN plays two separate roles in a vehicle transfer, and it helps to keep them apart:

1. Photo certification — signing the back of one of your two transfer-size photographs to confirm it's genuinely you. A JP or a qualifying executive officer can do this instead.
2. Residence certification — a standalone letter confirming your current address, needed only when that address isn't the one on your NIC.

If your NIC address and your current address match, you can skip the residence certificate entirely and just get the photo signed by whichever of the three certifiers is easiest to reach.

Who else can certify my documents instead of a Grama Niladhari?

A Justice of Peace or an authorised staff-grade government officer can certify the photograph in place of a GN. This matters practically because GN offices can get backed up, especially in the weeks before a school term or a public holiday. If you know a retired government officer, a lawyer who holds JP status, or a bank manager who qualifies, you can bypass the queue at the GN's office altogether. Keep in mind the residence certificate — when you need one — can usually only come from the GN of the division where you live, since it's a statement about where you reside, not just a signature on a photo.

What forms and paperwork go together with the certification?

The DMT's transfer set is built around two forms, each filled in jointly by seller and buyer, per motorguide.lk's step-by-step guide:

• MTA 6 — statement of change of possession. Both parties sign.
• MTA 8 — application for registration of the vehicle on transfer. This is the form the buyer submits to get the new CR book issued.

Alongside the forms, bring:

• The original Certificate of Registration (CR book)
• A revenue licence valid for the current year
• Certified NIC copies for both seller and buyer
• Two transfer photographs of the new owner, one certified as above
• A marriage certificate copy if the buyer or seller's name has changed through marriage
• Any release letter needed from a finance company, bank, or leasing company if the vehicle was mortgaged or leased

If you're the seller, note that you're also expected to forward your copy of the MTA 8 form to the DMT by registered post within a set number of days of the sale — a separate step from the buyer's submission. For the full breakdown of who owes what and by when, see our guide on transfer documents, or ask in the Wahanaya forum if your situation is unusual.

Step-by-step: getting your documents certified and submitted

1. Fill in MTA 6 and MTA 8 with both seller and buyer present, or arrange signatures separately if that's not possible.
2. Take two transfer-size photographs of the new owner (buyer).
3. Get one photograph certified by a Grama Niladhari, JP, or qualifying staff officer.
4. If your current address differs from your NIC, visit your local GN separately for a residence certificate — this is not the same visit as the photo certification above, since it has to come from the GN of your actual residence.
5. Gather supporting documents: CR book, valid revenue licence, certified NIC copies, marriage certificate copy if relevant, and any finance release letter.
6. Choose your submission point: the DMT head office in Narahenpita for one-day service, or any District Motor Traffic Office or Divisional Secretariat for normal service.
7. Submit and pay the applicable fee at the counter or designated bank. Fees and processing charges change from time to time, so confirm the current amount at the counter or on the DMT's official channels before you go, as of November 2026.
8. Keep your receipt — for normal service, your new CR book arrives by registered post; for one-day service, you can usually collect it the same day if submitted early enough.

What if the vehicle is leased, mortgaged, or co-owned?

If a leasing company or bank still has an interest in the vehicle, you need a formal release letter from that institution confirming the lease or mortgage is settled, before the DMT will process the transfer. This is separate from — and in addition to — the GN or JP certification on your photograph. If the vehicle is jointly owned or there's more than one name on the CR book, both parties typically need to be involved in signing the transfer forms. If you're buying a vehicle that still shows a lease or mortgage on record, check the price-check and vehicle listing details carefully, and ask the seller directly for the release documentation before you commit.

Where do you submit the certified documents?

You are not restricted to the district where the vehicle is currently registered. Normal-service transfers can go to any District Motor Traffic Office or the relevant Divisional Secretariat, which is useful if you've bought a vehicle registered in a different district from where you live — say a vehicle registered in Kandy that you're now keeping in Gampaha. One-day service, where you get the new CR book the same day, is only available at the DMT head office in Narahenpita (and a limited number of other designated locations), per the process described on srilanka-information-zone.blogspot.com.

How long does the whole process take?

For normal service, your vehicle identity/transfer slip is usually issued on the spot, but the actual new CR book is sent out by registered post, which can take several weeks. One-day service, available only at the head office, gets you the finished CR book the same day — for an additional fee. If you're buying or selling and timing matters (for example, you need the new book before renewing a lease or arranging leasing on the vehicle), budget for the normal-service wait unless you can get to Narahenpita in person.

Practical tips before you go

• Call ahead or check current counter hours — most DMT and Divisional Secretariat vehicle services run from around 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM on government working days, though exact hours can vary by office.
• Bring more photographs and NIC copies than you think you need. Rejected paperwork over a missing certification is one of the most common reasons transfers get delayed.
• If you're buying, don't sign off on a deal until you've confirmed there's no outstanding lease or mortgage — check our documents checklist before you pay anything.
• Listing your vehicle or shopping for one? Browse current listings on Wahanaya or post your own ad on /post-ad once your transfer paperwork is in order.
• If anything about your specific case — co-ownership, an address mismatch, a vehicle still under lease — doesn't fit the standard steps above, ask in the Wahanaya forum. Other buyers and sellers who've been through the same DMT counters can often tell you exactly what was accepted in their district.

Sources

• What Documents Are Required for a Vehicle Ownership Transfer?
• How to Transfer Vehicle Ownership Correctly
• Registration of Transfer of Motor Vehicle (Sri Lanka)