The Private Transport Services Ministry said that it would launch a programme effective from  today for commuters to make private bus-related complaints via SMS through the hotline 071 655 0000.

“The complaints will be sent to the Ministry via e-mail and therefore the Ministry will have the access to the complaint instantly. People can also use Skype address ‘privatetransportservices’ to lodge their complaints,” Minister C.B. Ratnayake said.

People can also reach the ministry via e-mail; <private_transportservices@yahoo.com> or <ptsmin.gov.lk> for the purpose.

The Minister said that most of the complaints they have received so far were found with several faults thus making it hard to investigate them.

He asked the people to visibly mention the registration number of the bus, route number, time and other details when making the complaint. “Possessing the bus ticket with the complainant is also useful for the investigations,” he added. (Lahiru Pothmulla)