Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-03-09

Implementation of Pre-paid Card System for Public Transport

- The use of Information Technology Solutions for the qualitative development of the Public transport service has become popular in many countries today. Among these solutions, the use of an electronic charging system has become very popular and the ability to charge the relevant fee accurately from the passengers, receipt of due income by the bus owner, avoidance of issues such as settling balances (due to not possessing coins) are among the advantages of this system. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to introduce a system of electronic charging for the passenger service buses, via pre-paid cards, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency, Sri Lanka Transport Board, National Transport Commission, Private Bus Owners, State Banks and IT Companies, was approved by the Cabinet.