Busmen to abide by national policy on fare revisions

Chamikara Weerasinghe

COLOMBO: Bus operators yesterday said they would stand by with the national policy on revisions of bus fares, until Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma gives them a suitable fare hike to be effective from July 1 in keeping with the policy.

The Lanka Private Bus Owners Association, All Ceylon Bus Operators Association and the Southern Province Bus Owners Association said they were not prepared to increase the fares twice in a year and cause frustration among commuters.

“We asked the Minister to give us a revision of bus fares considering price of diesel which is expected to go up by Rs.4 in the next couple of weeks,” the chairman of the Southern Province Bus Owners Association, Chandana De Soyza said.

De Soyza said that if the increase had to be made on the basis of current inflation and the recent diesel price increase of Rs. 7 alone, it would mean another requirement to increase the fares once the diesel prices go up.

“We do not want to cause unnecessary inconvenience to the public,” he said. T

he chairman of All Ceylon Bus Operators Association, Stanley Fernando said they were expecting a price revision before June 15. Meanwhile Alahapperuma had told the bus operators at a meeting at his ministry, that if they wanted a fare increase it had to be determined side by side with the quality of service provided to the commuters.

He had also emphasised the importance of studying people’s proposals before deciding on it by the Committee appointed for the task of fare revision.