Police announcement about the digital motor vehicle insurance card

In accordance with a decision by the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka, and other stakeholders in the field, the issuance of digital motor vehicle insurance cards has commenced from May 01, 2026, replacing traditional motor vehicle insurance certificates. In addition, digital insurance cards have been introduced from July 20, 2026, for vehicle insurance issued by the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board, established by Act No. 20 of 1999.

The Police Media Division states that the Inspector General of Police has taken steps to inform the public about this and to provide necessary orders and instructions to all police stations island-wide.

Under this new system, general insurance companies will provide digital insurance cards via mobile phone applications (Phone Apps), and a printed certificate will be provided only when requested by the policyholder. The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board will provide the digital card by sending a QR code and a URL address via SMS or email to the insured's mobile phone.

To check the validity of digital insurance policies, the National Insurance Verification System and the Agri Insurance Policy Verification System have been established. For general insurance company policies, validity can be instantly confirmed by entering the vehicle number or insurance certificate number using the *1338# USSD code or by sending an SMS to 1338. For Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board policies, the *1918# code or sending an SMS to 1918 can be used. In addition, the facility to check validity is also available by contacting customer service agents via the 1338 and 1918 hotlines, by scanning QR codes, or via URL addresses. No charges will be applied for calls and SMS messages to 1338 and 1918.

When using the *1338# and 1338 SMS services, the vehicle number should be entered with a hyphen (-) and no spaces between the letters and numbers, and the character 'ශ්‍රී' should be replaced with 'SRI' in English. For the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board's *1918# and 1918 SMS services, provincial characters should not be included, and a hyphen (-) should be used for the 'ශ්‍රී' character.

If a printed copy is required during a road accident investigation, it can be obtained from the relevant insurance institution, from a printed copy of the digital card, or from a copy downloaded from the data system by scanning the QR code. According to Section 104 (1) of the Motor Traffic Act, it is the driver's responsibility to present the insurance certificate for inspection, and even if a printed photocopy of the digital card is presented, the police have the ability to confirm its validity via SMS or short codes. In accordance with Section 3 of Chapter II of the Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006, the legal validity of these digital insurance cards cannot be denied. Previously issued insurance certificates will remain valid until their expiry, and the issuance of temporary insurance covers will continue as before until it is stopped in the future.