Up minimum bus fare to Rs.40; as depreciation of rupee plunges further: Gemunu

The minimum bus fare should be revised to Rs. 40, if the government does not take steps to stem the stability of the rupee against the dollar, Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said.

Addressing the media, he said the annual bus fare revision will come into effect in July and the new bus fare will have to be calculated considering the dollar rate and looking at every aspect linked to it.

"With the huge depreciation of the rupee against the US$, all the related items related to the bus service, such as tyres, tubes, lubricants, repairs, spare parts and all other accessories that are needed to run the buses, have gone up drastically, "he said.

"Within the past two months, the price of tyres went up by 40% and lubricants by 100%," he said. "Except for diesel, tyres and tubes, vehicle servicing, lubricants, repairs, air-conditioner repairs, daily, monthly and annual overhead, provision of responsibility, installment payments against financing and the current interest rates need to be considered when revising the annual bus fare," Wijerathne said.

Therefore, he requested the government to take immediate action to control the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar to get the best possible rate for the annual bus fare revision, he added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)