Law to get NTC to regulate school vans, three-wheelers soon

Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana told Parliament yesterday (10) that the power to regulate three-wheelers will be vested in the National Transport Commission.

Member of Parliament Wasantha Yapa Bandara said this while answering an oral question in Parliament yesterday (10). Minister Dr. Gunawardhana said that amendments have been submitted to the relevant law to give sufficient powers to the National Transport Commission to regulate three-wheelers.

The Minister said it will be published in the Gazette soon and presented to the Cabinet of Ministers, after which it will be presented to Parliament.

The Minister said the Motor Traffic Department has introduced the features that should be in three-wheelers for the safety of passengers and attention has also been paid to the use of electric three-wheelers in the future.

The Minister also said that the necessary upgrades are currently underway regarding the digitization of the Motor Transport Department to reduce corruption and irregularities.

The Minister said three-wheelers perform a great public service. “We have to accept it. Three-wheelers should be regulated. Since there are no powers for that, the National Traffic Act has been amended and the necessary work is being done to change this situation. According to the existing Act, the Transport Commission has the power only to revise bus schedules.

“Necessary activities are currently underway to amend this Act so that the Traffic Commission gets the power to regulate school vans and three-wheelers. It will be forwarded to the Cabinet in the future. Although there are laws that a meter should be installed on three-wheelers and a receipt should be issued if requested, it is not being implemented properly. These activities can be properly regulated only if the National Traffic Commission gets the power to regulate. The work will be done in the next two months,”he said.

“Currently, the National Transport Commission can only interfere with bus fares. Permission has been requested from the National Transport Commission to regulate vehicles including school vans and three-wheelers. After making amendments to this law, it has been sent to the Attorney General’s Department and received back and it has been decided to submit it to the Cabinet immediately. Later it will be gazetted and submitted to the Parliament.

Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana, who answered another question addressed by MP Wasantha Yapa Bandara, stated that there are 91,615 registered three-wheelers in service in the Kandy district.

The Minister said that according to the procedure prescribed in the Transport Act, it is necessary to install meters for three-wheelers and accordingly, if the passenger requests a debit slip for the money deposited in it, a debit slip should be issued, but it is not being implemented at present.

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