Rent a Car business in upward trend

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

Kishan Perera Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

Rent a Car business is a growing industry in the country which has provided over 3,500 employment opportunities to people directly and indirectly. However, a lot of crimes related to rent a car services have been reported due to the lack of awareness with regard to genuine companies, said President Rent-a-Car (RACA) Association Kishan Perera, at a media briefing at Nippon Hotel Colombo yesterday.

He said although there were over 40 Rent a Car companies in the country only 11 were registered with RACA namely Ameri Source Alliance, Andrew the Car Rental Company, Casons Rent a Car, Denshi Rent a Car, ECD Global, International Marketing Services, Kings Rent a Car, Lanka Quality Marketing Services, Lespri Rent a Car, MalKey Rent a Car and V.S Rent a Car. None of these have not been involved in crime related activities. However, RACA needs the support of government authorities to protect the public as well as foreigners who visit this country by maintaining the good image as the image of Sri Lanka was vital at a time when a large number of tourists were expected. Therefore people should be aware of the companies running in a professional manner.

There are 4,000 cars on the road belongs to RACA which was set up in 2008 and all its member companies are registered with the government, fully insured, paying government taxes, well maintained in an environmental friendly manner with 24 hours road side assistance by well trained skilled people.

However, some people rent out vehicles to mushroom companies without looking at these aspects and get into trouble unnecessarily.

It was allegedly only mushroom companies that are allegedly involved in crime related activities and they are not qualified to get the membership of RACA,he added.