Cabinet approval granted to increase bus fares

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - Cabinet approval has been granted to raise bus fares by 12.5%. The revision on bus fares will come into effect from midnight tonight (May 22). The Government took a decision to amend bus fares after Bus Associations threatened to go on strike following the increase in fuel prices. Initially the fares were increased by 6.5 percent, however as bus associations opposed this move, the government agreed to revise the fares by 12.5 percent. Cabinet approved the proposal during today's (May 22) Cabinet Meeting. As a result, the minimum bus fee rises from Rs.10 to Rs.12 and the maximum price of Rs.842 has risen to Rs.947. The bus fare increase has been permitted along with the agreement that there will be no change to the fares for the next 2 years. A meeting about the bus fares was held earlier today between representatives of the Bus Associations and Transport Authorities at the Ministry of Transport. Anjana Priyanjith the Secretary of the All Ceylon Private Bus Owners Federation stated that there were several rounds of discussion between them and the government to raise the prices. He further stated that they believe in the near future they will be able to provide a more qualitative service to the passengers. According to the Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ashok Abeysinghe, their hope was to increase the fare by 10% but it was not agreed upon. He added that this was approved by the cabinet and it was based on the decision that the bus fares will not be revised for the next two years.