Colombo, Mar 22 (PTI) The non-state bus operators in Sri Lanka on Sunday warned 90 per cent of their fleet may be off the road due to the extensive price hike of fuel which came into force from midnight.
The island nation raised fuel retail prices at midnight, the second such hike in a week.
The step comes in the backdrop of the joint US-Israel strikes against Iran and the retaliation by the Islamic nation that has spread to the entire Gulf region. It has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important choke point for the world's energy supplies.
“This is the biggest rise of diesel ever, we will not be able to operate busses without an adequate fare revision. We need a minimum 15 per cent fare hike to stay afloat,” Gamunu Wijeratne, the chair of the private bus owners’ association, told reporters here.
The private owners dominate the public transport service with a market share of 65-75 per cent. The state fleet share is around 25-35 per cent.
Midnight's price revision saw the per liter price of diesel used for all transport purposes going up by Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) 79 to make it LKR 382 per litre.
The three-wheeler taxi operators, dominated by Indian Bajaj, said the price of commonly used petrol was also raised to nearly LKR 400 per litre.
“Who would want to ride with us at this rate,” a three-wheeler operator said.
The Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) announced that it will launch a nationwide strike commencing at 6:00 pm if the scheduled bus fare revision is not officially announced by 5:00 pm on Sunday, according to news portal Adaderana.lk.
From March 1 there have been three price revisions of fuel prices cause by the conflict in West Asia.
The opposition said the government gains LKR 119 as taxes for each litre of petrol while diesel is taxed at LKR 93 per litre. The taxes must be scrapped to grant relief to the public, it added.
Analysts say the fuel price hike would cause inflation to go up by 5-8 per cent.
Earlier in the day, government spokesman and minister Nalinda Jayatissa urged the public to use fuel and electricity sparingly to cushion potential shortages amid volatile global oil markets.
Apart from the state fuel entity, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Lanka IOC (LIOC), IndianOil’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka, China’s Sinopec and Australia’s United Petroleum are in the retail market of fuel. In line with the CPC revision, LIOC and Sinopec too revised their retail prices, media reports said.