Private fuel tanker operators will continue deliveries following talks with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation on Thursday evening, removing the threat of a nationwide distribution halt that was due to begin on Friday. The two newsrooms covering the outcome disagree on what the corporation actually granted — see the October 3 update below.

The Ceylon Petroleum Private Tanker Owners Association (CPPTOA) took the decision after talks that evening with the CPC Chairman, two professors from the University of Moratuwa and association representatives, Chairman A.M.H. Adhikari said. The CPC agreed to provide the commission rates the operators had sought, the Daily Mirror reported.

The association had been seeking a revision of the fuel transport formula that would give tanker owners a commission of at least 20%.

A dispute more than a year old

Adhikari said the CPPTOA first requested a revision of transportation charges in 2025, and that discussions were held on introducing revised rates from January 2026. Those rates were never implemented despite several rounds of talks with the relevant authorities.

He said recent fuel price increases had sharply raised the operating costs of private bowsers, with the prices of spare parts, tyres, tubes and vehicle servicing all rising.

This continues the warning LankaNewz reported on September 28, when the association said it would withdraw from distribution unless the formula was revised — and when the Friday deadline in the Daily Mirror’s copy was rendered ambiguously as “Friday (25)”. Thursday’s agreement places that deadline at October 2, the day the talks concluded.

The morning the dispute “did not exist”

The resolution came at the end of a day in which the two sides described the situation in markedly different terms.

At 12:18 pm, the Daily Mirror reported Adhikari warning that the distribution network “could face a major disruption from tomorrow”, and that the day’s talks would be decisive in determining whether private operators continued to carry fuel. He said the CPC Chairman had assured the association a solution would follow those discussions.

Twenty minutes later, at 12:38 pm, the paper carried CPC Chairman D.J. Rajakaruna saying there had been no major issues with fuel distribution or transportation. He said the University of Moratuwa was still working on the commission formula and expressed confidence the matter could be resolved without difficulty.

Rajakaruna attributed the fuel queues reported in several parts of the country not to distribution problems but to some private companies limiting their supplies. He said 62 locations had been identified where shortages were reported, all of them areas served only by privately operated filling stations, and that the companies concerned had been asked to prioritise uninterrupted supply to those locations.

Both accounts were published within half an hour of each other. By 7:34 pm the talks had concluded.

Not reported

Neither Daily Mirror account states when the revised formula takes effect, whether it is backdated, or what it will cost the corporation. Rajakaruna’s 62 shortage locations are not identified, and no outlet has reported whether the private companies he named as limiting supplies have responded.

Update, October 3: Hiru puts the granted increase at 15%, not 20%

Hiru News reported on Friday that the CPC agreed to a 15% increase in transport fares at Thursday’s talks — not the 20% the operators had sought. Association secretary D. V. Shantha Silva said the operators had obtained time until the day after tomorrow to study the tariff-hike methodology the corporation announced, Hiru News reported.

That account conflicts with the Daily Mirror’s. The Daily Mirror reported on Thursday evening that the CPC had agreed to provide the commission rates the operators sought, which the association had put at at least 20%. Hiru’s later filing describes the same meeting as granting 15% against a 20% request, and describes the matter as still under review rather than closed.

Hiru also names a differently rendered association — the All Ceylon Petroleum Private Tanker Owners’ Association, represented by its secretary — where the Daily Mirror named the Ceylon Petroleum Private Tanker Owners Association (CPPTOA) and its chairman, A.M.H. Adhikari. Chairman and secretary are distinct offices and the two names most likely refer to the same body, but no outlet has confirmed this.

On the substance, Hiru repeats the operators’ core demand: that the payment formula account for diesel, tyres, batteries, maintenance and employee wages, and that they would otherwise withdraw from distribution.

On the record as it now stands, the dispute is not settled. A two-day review window means the operators have not accepted the methodology, and the figure the corporation granted is in dispute between the two newsrooms. LankaNewz has reported both accounts rather than choosing between them.

One number to hold on to

Disputes between Sri Lanka’s private bowser operators and the CPC over haulage rates recur, and the headlines they produce are close to interchangeable. An earlier round in March 2022 featured the same association secretary, Shantha Silva, demanding a formula revision within two days against a 60% rise in transport costs — a structure almost identical to this one. Other rounds involved a demand for a 60% increase against 30% granted, and a separate 25% haulage claim.

The discriminators for this round are the 20% demand against 15% granted, the University of Moratuwa formula, and the lapsed January 2026 implementation date. Neither figure should be read back onto earlier disputes, and the recurrence of the “two days to review” framing across editions means it is not on its own a reliable marker of which round is being described.

Sources