Sri Lanka, Oct. 8 -- Minister of Transport Bimal Rathnayake announced in Parliament today (8) that passengers traveling on buses equipped with ticketing machines are expected to be able to pay their fares using credit and debit cards by November 30, 2025.

The Minister elaborated on the importance of this digital payment system:

"It is a well-known fact that bus ticketing fraud is rampant. This is one of the main reasons the bus industry in Sri Lanka is struggling-operators simply cannot collect their full revenue. That is why private bus owners' associations have made a strong request for a card payment system."

The Minister further stated that while previous attempts focused on creating separate 'transport cards'which he described as ...