Feb 14, Colombo: Private bus owners in Sri Lanka have threatened legal action against the National Transport Commission (NTC) for reaching unilateral decisions on bus fares without discussing with the private bus owners.

The Private Bus Owners' Association (PBOA) states that the NTC did not have a mandate to make such decisions on its own.

PBOA Head, Gemunu Wijerathna observed that the National Bus Fare Policy does not permit the NTC to decide on bus fares without discussing with the bus owners.

He explained that Private Transport Minister C.B. Ratnayake during the last bus fare hike in February 2012 had assured that the next fare hike would be in one year's time.

According to Wijerathna, the NTC has not carried out a proper calculation on the bus fares.

He added that the private bus owners wanted a Rs. 20,000 diesel subsidy for each bus owner instead of a bus fare hike, which would be beneficial to the bus owners and the commuters.