6.2 Documents, Police Powers, Spot Fines and In-Vehicle Rules

6.2 Documents, Police Powers, Spot Fines and In-Vehicle Rules

The "Driver Responsibilities" part of the DMT paper tests the paperwork you must carry, what police officers can require, how fines work, and everyday rules inside the vehicle: phones, seat belts, passengers, window tint and refuelling. Every rule below comes from the Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) as amended up to Act No. 10 of 2019, or from regulations made under it.

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1. Documents for a Private Car or Dual-Purpose Vehicle

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2. What Police Officers Can Require

• Obey directions and signals to stop, slow down, turn back or keep to a line of traffic (s.162).
• Give your name and address when asked (s.232A).
• Produce your licence (s.135), your revenue licence (s.38) and your emission certificate (s.196(5)). If you were involved in an accident causing injury and cannot produce your insurance certificate at the time, produce it at the nearest police station within 24 hours (s.161(2)).
• Detention of a driver (s.232E) at a police station for as long as reasonably necessary, where the driver refuses to give or falsely gives a name and address, is involved in an accident causing death or grievous injury, is suspected of having consumed alcohol or drugs, or is suspected of having forged documents, forged number plates, an altered chassis or engine number, or a stolen vehicle.
• Detention of a vehicle (s.232F) for inspection where an examiner or officer believes the construction, equipment or use rules have been broken.
• Arrest without warrant for drink- or drug-driving offences (s.151(1CC)).
• If you hold no valid learner's permit or licence, the officer may detain you until you produce one. If you have none, both you and the owner are liable to a fine of Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 6,000 and imprisonment (s.135(1B)).

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3. Spot Fines and Demerit Points

Section 215A and the Second Schedule (replaced by Act No. 18 of 2017) list 33 groups of offences that can be settled by a spot fine if you admit liability. They include speeding, breaking the rules of the road (s.148), improper signals, improper horn use, emissions, too many people in the front seat, not wearing a seat belt or helmet, disobeying police directions or traffic signs, refuelling precautions, parking, and failing to carry the emission certificate.

How payment works:

1. The officer records the detection, and you admit liability.
2. You pay the prescribed fine at a post office, at a prescribed government institution, or electronically. The Ministry of Transport reported that online payment through GovPay covered the whole island from December 2025.
3. Proof of payment must reach the officer-in-charge of the named police station within two weeks.
4. If you miss that deadline, you may pay twice the fine within the following two weeks, before the case goes to the Magistrate's Court (s.215A(6)).

Demerit points (sections 133A and 133B). Regulations prescribe which offences carry points. Points are entered when a court convicts you or when you admit liability for a spot-fine offence. Reaching the prescribed total leads the Commissioner-General to suspend or cancel the licence, and new licence holders on probation (one to two years) have the probation extended or the licence cancelled (s.123(3)). The Ministry of Transport announced a demerit-point pilot from 1 October 2026, with full operation planned from March 2027.

The general penalty for an offence with no specific penalty is Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 7,500, then Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 15,000 for a second conviction and Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 after that (s.224).

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4. Mobile Phones

Section 152A (added in 2019): "No person shall use a telephone, mobile phone or any other movable communication equipment when driving a motor vehicle on a road." The section has no hands-free exception. It is punishable under the general penalty in section 224, and a spot fine may be imposed. The RDA's expressway rules repeat it: do not use a phone while driving, and if it is essential, ask a passenger or stop safely first.

The safe, legal habit is to switch off or silence the phone before moving off, and to stop in a safe place before using it.

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5. Control, Passengers and Safety Equipment

• Full control and view (s.152): do not drive where you cannot fully control the vehicle or see the road ahead. Do not let a passenger sit where they block your view or interfere with steering. In a right-hand-drive car, nobody may sit or stand on your right. Keep both hands on the wheel except to change gear, give a hand signal or work essential controls.
• Front seat (s.157): no more than two persons in addition to the driver in the front seat or seats of a motor car.
• Seat belts (s.157A): occupants of prescribed seats must wear an approved belt, under the Motor Traffic (Seat Belts) Regulations No. 3 of 2011. On expressways the RDA requires every occupant, including rear-seat passengers, to wear a belt. Make every passenger buckle up.
• Motorcycles (s.158): one pillion passenger only, seated astride, and both riders must wear an approved helmet.
• Riding outside the vehicle (s.156): no one may ride on running boards, wings, fenders or the outside of a vehicle.
• Window tint: under regulations made in 1995 (Gazette 875/8), windscreens and windows must not be tinted so as to prevent the occupants being identified. At least 70% of visible light must pass through, measured by an approved meter.
• Refuelling (s.165): stop the engine before fuel is put into the tank, and do not smoke or strike a match within three yards of the vehicle or pump while fuel is being discharged.
• Smoke and noise (s.155A, s.160): a vehicle must not emit smoke, vapour, sparks or oily substances likely to harm health, cause annoyance or obscure visibility. A first offence is fined Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000. Loudspeaker sound must stay inside the vehicle, and an efficient silencer is compulsory.
• Vehicle condition (s.2A): it is an offence knowingly to use a vehicle that is mechanically defective, fails prescribed safety standards, or has been illegally modified.

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6. Stopping, Parking and Leaving the Vehicle (Section 167)

• When halted or parked, keep the vehicle as near as possible to the edge of the road, or where a sign or police officer directs.
• If you leave it unattended, stop the engine and make sure it cannot move (handbrake, gear).
• If it is disabled by an accident, breakdown or tyre failure and left on the road at night, light the front and rear so its position is clear.
• The police may remove a vehicle causing an obstruction and charge the cost to the owner (s.167(4)).