The brain drain has increased the demand for international driving licences four-fold, the President of the Automobile Association of Ceylon (AAC), Dhammika Attygalle said.
He said that before the Covid-19 pandemic only around 40 to 50 international driving licences were issued per day by the AAC. “However, now this has increased to around 200 per day.”
He said to meet this demand they have taken steps to quicken the issuing process. The current fee per licence is around Rs. 12,000 and this increase also gives additional revenue to the AAC.
He said that they have taken note that when Sri Lankans who drive vehicles with right side steering, move to a country which has left side steering some drivers encountering issues.
“To iron this out, we first had a left side steering vehicle at AAC and then had the training in a race track in Hambantota. But during the pandemic this stopped.”
“Now, are going to tie up with McLarens Group and offer a ‘simulator’ where drivers could get the driving experience in Sri Lanka similar to a pilots getting their initial training. “This is not compulsory but an additional facility we are offering.”
