A proposal will be forwarded to the Transport Ministry requesting a bus fare hike on par with the sudden fuel hike, NTC Director Nilan Miranda said.

He told the Daily Mirror that bus operators were unable to continue with their services with this type of fuel hike.

Therefore, the NTC is contemplating to calculate the bus fare and propose it to the ministry, as it takes longer time to revise the bus fares as per the national transport policy, he said.

He said the national transport policy is usually revised in July.

The bus owners cannot wait until July 1 to cover their expenses, so the NTC is to make the proposal to increase the bus fare, Miranda said. He added that the bus fare revision should be made while considering all aspects relating to the private bus transport industry. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)