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| Sunday, 4 January 2004 |
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Bus owners' request for 15% VAT exemption: Fare Policy Committee says they face only 5% VAT by Deepal Warnakulasuriya The Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) has written to the Prime Minister and the Secretary to the Transport Ministry requesting that private bus owners be exempted from the 15 per cent VAT on bus lease rentals. This follows the National Transport Commission (NTC) and the Fare Policy Committee rejecting requests for an eight per cent fare hike. LPBOA president, Gemunu Wijeratne said that new VAT rate was too high for bus owners and that an eight per cent fare hike was essential to meet the loss. He said that the minimum fare of Rs. 3.00 will also have to be increased to Rs. 4.00, and added that their next step would be decided at a meeting due to be held on Tuesday with the District Organisers of the Association. A Transport Ministry spokesman said they would take up the matter with the Finance Minister and seek a solution through the Treasury. However, a member of the Fare Policy Committee said that private bus owners face only a 5 per cent VAT. Pointing out that according to the Fare Policy a fair hike could be imposed only once a year, he said that the LPBOA could justify their request only if there was a more than eight per cent increase in fuel price. A spokesman for the NTC also said that bus owners' request cannot be accepted at this juncture, but that they would talk with the Treasury and seek some alternatives. Meanwhile, a university lecturer who has been carrying out a series of researches on transport, said that conductors did not receive more than 20 per cent of their dues because of negligence. He said that issuing correctly price marked tickets to every passenger will make opportunities to receive their due money from the passengers and that there was no need to demand unnecessary fair hikes from time to time. |
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