Private buses across Sri Lanka will operate at around 50 per cent of their normal capacity from Monday, the Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) said on Sunday, escalating a long-running dispute over fares and diesel costs into a trade-union action that will directly disrupt the Monday commute.
Speaking at a media briefing in Colombo, LPBOA Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said about a quarter of the private fleet had already been pulled from service voluntarily as operators absorbed two consecutive May diesel price increases. The association had now decided to intensify the action by reducing services by a further 25 percentage points from Monday, June 8.
Wijeratne said operators had sought temporary relief to keep services running until a formal fare revision could be implemented, but had received no favourable response from either the National Transport Commission or the relevant minister. The annual bus fare policy is not due to be implemented until early July, and the chairman warned that a “substantial” fare increase may then become necessary because of rising operating costs. He also claimed that diesel prices were expected to rise again later this month, further squeezing operators.
Under the planned restrictions, only essential trips will run, with priority given to morning commuting hours, school closing times and evening office traffic. Routes that currently operate four trips during peak periods may be cut to three, Wijeratne said, adding that private operators “could no longer continue running services at a loss.”
The action follows a tense recent stand-off between the government and the industry. On June 4, private bus unions formally demanded a 5 per cent fare hike or a fuel subsidy after a brief Ministry of Transport meeting on the back of two May diesel increases — a Rs. 10 rise on May 3 and a further Rs. 15 on May 30. That demand reopened a dispute the government appeared to have closed earlier in the week, when Deputy Public Administration Minister Prasanna Gunasena said no immediate fare revision was being considered on the basis of the Rs. 25 cumulative increase alone.
Sunday’s announcement marks the first time in this cycle that the LPBOA has moved from demanding a fare revision to actually executing a service cut. Wijeratne said responsibility for the disruption rested with the government and warned that further reductions were possible if no response was received in the coming days.
