By CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA  

National Transport Commission Chairman, Shashi Welgama said  yesterday that there is no provision to increase bus fares even though  the price of diesel has increased by Rs. 5.  
He said that according to the existing laws and agreements  on bus fares, it is not possible to increase fares at this time, and no  one has made a request to increase the bus fares so far.  
Meanwhile, considering yesterday’s and previous fuel price  revisions, the private bus associations have incurred a total loss of  Rs. 22, which cannot be afforded, and therefore a bus fare revision is a  must this time, Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) Chairman  Gemunu Wijeratne said.  

Every time fuel price revisions had taken place, as  responsible bus associations, we have worked according to the national  bus fare policy while bearing our losses.   “But this time we have to bear the total loss of Rs. 22,  and therefore, we have decided to increase the fare within the next two  weeks if our four conditions are not fulfilled. 

 
“According to this bus fare, it is a three per cent increase, and we need another one per cent to increase the bus fare  within the framework of the national bus fare policy. We experience a  huge impact with the newly imposed VAT. The price of a new bus has  increased beyond what we can imagine, but no action has been taken by  the government to grant us a concession. The spare parts, lubricants and  service charges have also increased,” he said.