Price formula is delayed, taxi fare hike will not stop.

Although more than a year has passed since the National Transport Commission was vested with full legal powers to systematically regulate three-wheelers as well as school and office transport services, the entire regulatory process has been completely stalled due to the commission's failure to formulate a fare price formula for them. Transport trade unions point out that taking advantage of this situation, owners of hired three-wheelers, office transport service providers, and school transport vehicle drivers are engaging in transport activities by charging excessively high fares from passengers.

Due to these uncontrolled fare increases, the public who travel daily are facing severe hardship.

A new bill, prepared by amending several provisions of the National Transport Commission Act No. 37 of 1991 to suit the current needs of the transport sector, was presented to Parliament on May 08, 2025, and was passed by a majority vote on June 05 of the same year. Before this amendment, the National Transport Commission only had limited power to regulate inter-provincial buses and revise bus fares. However, even though the new legal provisions allowed for the control of other passenger transport services, internal sources of the Ministry of Transport confirm that due to the slow nature and setbacks within the Commission, three-wheeler drivers are charging higher fares as they please.

According to observations made by the Provincial Road Passenger Transport Authorities, the total number of registered three-wheelers across the island exceeds one million, with more than 800,000 operating on a hire basis for the public. Three-wheeler associations have held several discussions with the National Transport Commission to alleviate the current crisis and provide relief to passengers, but all these efforts have been futile. Media parties attempted to contact the Chairman and senior board officials of the National Transport Commission to inquire about this matter, but no official responded to their phone calls, rendering these attempts inexplicably unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the Western Province has been identified as the region with the highest number of three-wheelers operating in the country, with nearly 300,000 in operation. Mr. Gamini Jasinghe, Chairman of the Western Province Road Passenger Transport Authority, stated that a process of registering these three-wheelers through a special digital tool for systematic documentation and regulation has already been initiated. He further added that during the last fuel price increase, discussions were held to charge 110 rupees for the first kilometer and 100 rupees for every subsequent kilometer for three-wheelers in the Western Province, and instructions were given to the relevant parties.