Final decision on semi-luxury buses to be made in a week

Friday, 3 January 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A decision on semi-luxury buses will be made by the Passenger Transport Management Ministry in a week, and representatives of the industry have until then to present valid reasons for the service to be continued.

A statement issued by the Ministry stated that they have been pushing to discontinue the semi-luxury service, and will not allow for further exploitation of passengers by semi-luxury bus service providers.

The proposal to discontinue the service came after a survey by the National Transport Commission showed that 68% of passengers questioned agreed that the service was no longer needed. 8% stated that they have entered a bus not knowing it was a semi-luxury bus.

While Passenger Transport Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera met with representatives of the industry on 1 January, a decision on the matter was not reached, as the Minister did not agree with the conditions put forward by representatives of the industry.

According to the statement, the representatives suggested renaming the service as “limited express”, but Amaraweera had disagreed, saying it was merely a name-change with no change to the fare charged, nor improvement of the quality of the service.

For the semi-luxury service to continue, regulations by the National Transport Commission have to be adhered to. These include accepting a limited number of passengers, having seats with headrests, and making a limited number of stops.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.