Audio: No bus fare hike - LPBOA

Bus fares would not be increased as claimed by certain persons, who claimed to be the general secretary of a private bus federation, President of the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijerathne said today.

The General Secretary of the All Island Private Bus Company Federation (AIPBCF) Anjana Priyanjith said on Wednesday that he had planned to request a bus fare increase of ten per cent with the increase of minimum fare to Rs.10 from the National Transport Commission (NTC).

However, Wijeratne rejected the claim.

“As LPBOA we have not taken any plan to request a bus fare increase. The annual review of bus fares falls on July 1. When revising bus fares twelve factors are taken into consideration; Diesel cost, employee salaries,  servicing and oil, tyre and tubes, air condition service and repairs, daily expenses, monthly expenses, annual expenses  and the finance cost,” he said.

 “The bus fare increment is not for the private buses but also for the government services. There had been sixteen increases, while the fare had been revised down only four times,” Mr. Wijerathne said.

“There are eleven ministers, who own buses in the private bus industry and it is a great loss to the bus industry. The Internal Transport Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara had taken a decision to terminate the semi-luxury bus service and the super luxury services, which had a devastating impact on the entire bus service in the country,” he said.

“This type of category is not found anywhere in the world. This is a malpractice introduced by the previous government.

“A new facility will be introduced in the near future to grant ten per cent discount for commuters, who use the electronic pre-paid Touch Travel Pass card,” he said.(Chaturanga Pradeep)