By Sandun A. Jayasekera  

The Transport Ministry will bring the management and monitoring of three wheelers under the National Transport Commission (NTC) and the preliminary work in this regard will be finalized before the end of August, Transport and Highways Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.  

Minister Gunawardana in response to a journalist at a news briefing held at the Information Department admitted that three wheeler service has to be monitored, regulated and disciplined before it becomes a nuisance to the public rather than a service.  

Minister Gunawardana agreed with journalists who charged that three wheeler drivers charge exorbitant fares using the fuel price hike and never follow the price formula introduced by three wheeler operators’ organizations.  
“About 300,000 three wheelers on Sri Lanka’s roads provide roughly15% of the transport service in the country. There has been a trend whereas three wheeler drivers involve in many anti-social activities such as drug peddling, thefts, abductions, killings and other crimes. That is why a monitoring and regulatory framework is essential for three wheelers. As such, a monitoring and regulatory mechanism through the NTC would be introduced shortly for three wheeler service,” Minister Gunawardana stressed.   

There are instances where three wheeler drivers fleece customers and charge five or six hundred rupees for two kilometres. Hapless passengers pay the price as they cannot argue with three wheeler drivers. A large number of three wheelers run without fare meters despite the government making it mandatory since April, 2018.