Sri Lanka, July 28 -- 25,508 duty-free vehicle permits have been issued to state employees, even through the vehicle import ban.

This was revealed on July 25 in Parliament by Labour Minister Professor Anil Jayantha Fernando.

He made this announcement in response to a question raised by Badulla District Parliamentarian Chamara Sampath Dasanayake.

The Minister clarified that these permits were issued up to June 30, 2025.

He added that no decision has yet been made regarding the import of vehicles against these permits.

Providing data on vehicle permit issuance for state officials, the Minister stated that only 2,043 permits have been issued in 2025 so far.

In previous years, 5,373 permits were issued in 2020, 2,972 in 2021, 3,340 in 2...