Fuel consumption and sales doubled in some districts: Minister

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

Information has been received from some districts that consumers have doubled the amount of fuel they usually purchase and some filling stations have doubled the amount they sell daily, Minister of Transport Bimal Rathnayake told Parliament yesterday.   

Minister Rathnayake said such a scenario would create issues.  

He said the QR code was introduced in order to save fuel for an emergency and not because of any shortage of fuel.   

Responding to a question raised by Opposition MP B Ariyawansa in the House, the Minister accepted that those who have obtained new phone numbers have found it difficult to obtain QR code for their existing vehicles while those who have obtained new vehicles and retained their old phone numbers have also got into difficulty.  

“Those who have obtained new phone numbers can log into the website fuelpss.gov.lk and insert their new phone number while those who have purchased new vehicles can log into the website and enter their new vehicle number. Difficulties could be overcome this way,” he said.   

“However if someone cheats by inserting false numbers, they will be charged for committing cybercrimes,” he added.   

He said at least 7.2 million vehicle owners are expected to register for the QR code while 5.5 million have been registered to date. Some 42,899 registered for QR code on March 15, 337, 068 registered on March 16, 395,399 on March 17 while nearly 100,000 vehicle owners registered yesterday morning.