By Chaturanga Samarawickrama   

According to the Inter Provincial Private Bus Owners’ Association (IPPBOA) and the Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA), 90% of their buses have been halted due to a lack of diesel.   

The current fuel crisis has had a significant impact on long-distance bus services.   

“We are finding it difficult to find diesel for our buses and we need to wait in long queues for a long time at the filling stations to get fuel, he said.   

However, the leasing companies are in hot pursuit to collect the leasing instalments adding interests and surcharges accumulated during the COVID moratorium period. Certain buses have been seized for not paying the instalments.   He explained that they couldn’t pay the instalments without operating the buses and that this isn’t fair.   

Meanwhile, the LPBOA Chairman, Gemunu Wijerathne said their bus service had also faced a similar predicament as the IPPBOA.   He said the entire private bus service is likely to ground to a halt soon.