The recent suggestion by Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage to consider raising the minimum age for three-wheeler drivers to 40 years has exposed a deeply-felt need in the transport sector. The proposal was framed as an effort to guide young school leavers towards technical training rather than immediate entry into commercial driving.
Although Cabinet Spokesperson Dr Nalinda Jayatissa subsequently clarified that no such proposal has been officially considered or approved by the Cabinet, the statement itself reflects a persistent dilemma: how to divert young school leavers from entry-level passenger transport into productive, skilled trades. The urge to protect the country’s youthful workforce and address crippling labour shortages in vital industries is understandable. However, attempting to solve a macro-economic crisis through arbitrary age restrictions on a key informal sector is economically misdirected and practically unworkable.
The three-wheeler economy, comprising over a million vehicles, has long functioned as an essential socio-economic shock absorber. In times of economic contraction, rising living costs, or rural distress, driving a passenger three-wheeler offers immediate liquidity and autonomous livelihoods to millions of families. Yet this low barrier to entry has created severe structural imbalances. The allure of daily cash flow, combined with aggressive vehicle leasing, has led hundreds of thousands of young school leavers to bypass technical training and higher education. As a consequence, foundational sectors such as construction, technical maintenance, and export manufacturing face chronic labour shortages, constraining national economic productivity and industrial expansion.
Nevertheless, penalising young citizens for choosing an accessible occupation misinterprets the root cause of the crisis. Young school leavers do not avoid vocational training out of malice; they do so because technical training pathways in Sri Lanka are frequently underfunded, poorly aligned with modern market demands, and socially undervalued.
Moreover, technical apprenticeships rarely offer immediate, living wages capable of competing with daily transport earnings. Simply prohibiting an 18-year-old or 25-year-old from operating a three-wheeler will not automatically transform them into a certified plumber, electrician, or heavy machine operator. Without guaranteed stipends, upgraded polytechnics, and dignified employment conditions, crude prohibitions will merely produce youth unemployment and social unrest.
As All-Island Three-Wheeler Drivers’ Association President Lalith Dharmasekara rightly observed in detail the path forward requires comprehensive public transport regulation rather than targeted age caps. Constitutional guarantees safeguard every citizen’s right to choose a lawful occupation. Rather than singling out three-wheeler operators, the Government should introduce a standardised licensing hierarchy across all public passenger transport. Requiring a minimum age of 23 for any commercial passenger transport driving licence, supported by prerequisite heavy vehicle driving experience and mandatory safety accreditation, aligns with sound transport planning. A uniform minimum age of 23 creates a natural buffer after secondary education, encouraging young people to acquire technical skills while keeping the door open to commercial transport as a mature, qualified career choice.
Equally urgent is the long-deferred need to standardise and regulate the three-wheeler trade itself. For decades, successive administrations have allowed the sector to expand without national oversight. As often highlighted in sector reforms discussions, the absence of fare standardisation, mandatory fare-meter verification, passenger safety standards, and formal registration under a central authority has degraded service quality and contributed to high road accident rates. Establishing a dedicated regulatory authority to professionalise the sector would transform three-wheeler operations from a chaotic informal fall-back into a structured feeder network integrated with national public transit.
On the other hand, policy makers must abandon reactionary proposals and focus on coherent structural reforms. The administration should invest heavily in modern vocational education, provide meaningful financial support during technical apprenticeships, and implement a consistent 23-year minimum age rule for all commercial transport driving licences. Sri Lanka’s youth do not need arbitrary occupational bans; they require well-funded career pathways into skilled industries, paired with a safe, regulated, and professional public transport sector.