Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) Chairman Sanjeewa Kanagaratne said on Wednesday that all arrangements have been made to introduce a card-only payment system on SLTB bus services, with implementation expected within the next few months.
Kanagaratne made the announcement while inspecting transport facilities for passengers travelling from Matara to Colombo on April 16. He said the public would see a range of changes in state public transport services, including full digitalisation of the SLTB, over the next three years.
The move follows a wider push toward cashless ticketing on Sri Lanka’s fragmented bus network. Earlier this month, Commercial Bank and NCG Express rolled out a QR-based cashless ticketing pilot on private long-distance routes. SLTB’s card-only rollout would extend a similar model to the state operator, which runs several thousand vehicles across the island.
The digital shift also intersects with a recent SLTB enforcement drive. The board disclosed earlier this week that conductor fraud was costing roughly Rs. 20 million a day in leaked revenue, and that card-based ticketing was a key plank of its fraud-reduction strategy.
SLTB posted record Avurudu festive revenue this month, with more than Rs. 1 billion collected on return travel alone — a performance the chairman said should be locked in through automated, auditable fare collection rather than cash handling.
No details were released on the card specification, whether it will be interoperable with rail smart-ticketing platforms such as Pravesha, or how passengers without cards will be accommodated during the transition. The government’s broader digital public sector platform, approved by Cabinet this month, includes transport identity features that the new bus card could eventually dock into.
Sources: Ada Derana.
