The National Transport Commission (NTC) has ruled out any revision of bus fares despite the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s midnight diesel price hike on 30 May, leaving private and SLTB operators to absorb the Rs. 15 per litre increase in auto diesel.
Three-wheeler associations split publicly the same day. The National Joint Three-Wheeler Drivers and Industrial Workers’ Association (NJTWDIWA) said it expects fares to rise and has decided to seek a starting fare of Rs. 130 for the first kilometre for metered three-wheelers operating in the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts. General Secretary L. Rohana Perera said the proposal will be submitted formally to the Fare Regulation Committee of the Western Province Road Passenger Transport Authority.
Perera said petrol had risen Rs. 36 per litre across the last two revisions — Rs. 12 in the earlier round and Rs. 24 in the latest — and that lubricants and spare parts had also become sharply more expensive. He warned that without a fare revision the industry risked collapse, and accused the government of paying insufficient attention to small transport operators struggling under the International Monetary Fund programme.
The All-Island Three-Wheeler Drivers’ and Owners’ Association took the opposite position. Chairman Sudil Jayaruk told NewsFirst that fares would not be revised “in order to prevent inconvenience to the public.” The All-Island School Van Operators’ Association also said school van fares would stay flat, with chairman Malshri De Silva citing the burden on parents.
The Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association pushed back against the NTC’s position later in the afternoon. Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne told a Colombo media briefing that the regulator should bring forward an interim revision instead of waiting for the annual July adjustment, and said the industry was expecting a five per cent fare increase to take effect from 2 June. Wijeratne also said the minimum bus fare should rise to Rs. 32–33, Newswire reported.
The midnight CPC revision raised Auto Diesel by Rs. 15 to Rs. 407 per litre, Super Diesel by Rs. 20 to Rs. 478 and the two petrol grades by Rs. 24 and Rs. 25. Lanka IOC and Sinopec followed on Sunday morning, though Sinopec’s Super Diesel remained at the Rs. 600 price it set in early April and Lanka IOC matched it on the premium grade. The earlier May 2 hike had also produced a similar public split between bus operators and three-wheeler groups.
