The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways

Jathika Jana balawegaya· Mahanuwara· 19 August 2025 ·Oral question: Oral Question: SLTB Bus Journey Cancellations (Q.6/1075/2025)

Infrastructure

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On behalf of the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation, the Deputy Minister stated that 4,928 reserved-seat bus journeys had been cancelled in 2025 to date, with alternatives provided for 4,046 through substitute buses or other travel dates/journeys. He said refunds amounting to Rs. 1,196,040 had been made, and outlined the procedure of notifying passengers by SMS and 1315, offering alternative travel, or issuing refunds where alternatives are not accepted. He added that technical arrangements with People’s Bank were underway to enable direct card refunds for online reservations, targeted for implementation from 1 September.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation:

¶ 02 (a)(i) In 2025 to date, 4,928 reserved-seat journeys were cancelled. Alternatives were provided for 4,046 of them: substitute buses for 2,541 journeys and alternative dates/journeys for 1,505. (a)(ii) Rs. 1,196,040. (a)(iii) When a journey is cancelled, priority is to deploy a substitute bus. If not possible, all reserved passengers are informed by SMS and facilitated to travel on another bus the same day or on another day per their choice. If passengers do not agree to either, refunds are made. (a)(iv) Journey details, departure time, and contact numbers are already notified by SMS and via 1315. Technical arrangements with People’s Bank are underway to enable direct refunds to the card used for online reservations; implementation targeted from 1 September. Some verification steps (bank details, non-travel confirmation, payment verification, non-operation confirmation) take several days.

¶ 03 (b) Not applicable.

Provenance

Source: Hansard, Tuesday, 19 August 2025 ·No. 1755860432040633 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 19 August 2025. No. 1755860432040633. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/6594