NTC senior officials said a decision was made to review the possibility of increasing bus fares after diesel prices rose by Rs.8 last Saturday (29). An NTC official said that there is no provision to increase bus fares according to the bus fare formulae which is used to review annual bus fare increments. However the Rs.8 increase in diesel might call for an increase in bus fares again, he said.

He said there will be discussions with Private Transport Minister C.B. Ratnayake after which there will be discussions with bus unions. He said bus organisations have expressed the need for concessions and that the SLTB too is suffering immense losses and that therefore a rise in bus fares is a possibility in the near future.

“We have to be fair by the bus passengers as well as the bus associations. It may take about two days to decide on a compromise,” he said.

The last bus fare hike was in July this year when the minimum bus fare was increased from Rs.6 to Rs.7. (Olindhi Jayasundere)