Jan 06, Colombo: National Transport Commission (NTC) in Sri Lanka, the official controller for the country’s public transport services has decided to cancel the route permits of the buses that didn’t reduce the fares with effect from today.

Prof. Amal Kumarage, Chairman of the NTC urged the private bus owners to reduce the bus fares according to the new scheme introduced by the NTC.

Following the diesel price reduction last week, the NTC has decided to reduce the bus fares by 4.3% amid heavy objections from the bus owners.

Some private bus associations in the country strongly opposed the bus fare reduction and stressed that they would not accept the new price scheme.

Private Bus Owners’ Association said they have taken this decision as their other expenses remain unchanged and the reduction in the price of diesel is not enough to reduce fares.