If no solutions by govt. bus fare will go up by 30%, min. fare Rs.30: IPPBA

The Inter-Provincial Private Bus Association (IPPBA) Executive Committee decided today to raise the total bus fare by 30% while also raising the minimum bus fare from the present Rs.17 to Rs. 30, if the government does not come up with a solution.

IPPBA Secretary Anjana Priyanjith said the decision was taken after a discussion with the committee members of the association today.

During the meeting, they agreed to make a request from the government to provide a diesel subsidy, he said. If the government does not consider giving diesel subsidy, we will be forced to go for a bus fare hike to keep the service afloat, he said.

Inter-provincial bus operators are facing major challenges as a result of the government's haphazard decision to raise the price of diesel by Rs.55.

After the price increase, it will impact in other prices such as spare parts, accessories, tyres, tubes, oil, grease etc. With all that, we will be left to reel without any profit, "he said.

Therefore, the IPPBA today decided to convene a meeting to discuss the issues.

The government is still unable to provide any solution to the issues faced by the IPPBA.

They were not even invited for a discussion either. If the government continues to evade and fail to come up with an immediate solution, the union will then decide on its own to halt all inter provincial buses in the country from Monday," Priyanjith added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)