Motorists wait in queues to refuel their autos at a filling station in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
| Picture Credit score: AFP
Sri Lanka on Sunday (March 15, 2026) switched to a digital QR code-based system to ration gasoline gross sales, a transfer authorities described as a “precautionary measure” amid persisting uncertainty in West Asia.
Citing “prevailing geopolitical developments” in West Asia and their opposed impression on international provide chains, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Power mentioned the nation’s current gasoline shares have been depleting amid an “irregular improve” in demand. “Subsequently, it has turn out to be essential to fastidiously handle the accessible gasoline reserves as a way to maintain the nation’s financial actions,” it mentioned in a public discover saying the swap to a QR code system.
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Sri Lankans final used a QR code-aided system in 2022 when the island’s economic system crashed, leading to essential shortages and lengthy queues for gasoline. The transfer requires shoppers to register and obtain a QR code particular to their car to be used at gasoline stations. The weekly quota for vehicles and motorbikes is proscribed to fifteen litres and 5 litres, respectively. Following the announcement on Sunday, a number of autos queued up at gasoline sheds round Colombo.
Deputy Minister of Trade Chathuranga Abeysinghe instructed The Hindu thatSri Lanka had ample shares in the intervening time and the choice to average gasoline provide to shoppers was extra of a technique for “prudent, rational utilization”. “With the continued uncertainty, this can assist us protect and prolong our inventory as a lot as potential,” he mentioned, including: “We have now affirmation from the Indian Oil Company that provide can be ensured.”
IOC subsidiary, Lanka IOC, controls round 20% of Sri Lanka’s retail market, which is dominated by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Company. Lanka IOC Managing Director Okay. Raghu on Saturday instructed Colombo-based media that Sri Lanka was “in protected fingers” and that the corporate was dedicated to making sure uninterrupted gasoline provide to Sri Lanka regardless of challenges.
The Sri Lankan authorities has sought India’s further help to reinforce provides, Mr. Abeysinghe mentioned. Colombo can be in talks with Moscow to discover buying oil from the Russia, a detailed accomplice of the island.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake convened a sequence of conferences on Sunday to debate the upkeep of important providers and gasoline provides, and directed officers to review the choice of distant working to save lots of on nationwide gasoline consumption. “As it’s troublesome to make correct predictions concerning potential future developments, the President emphasised the necessity for advance preparedness to face any potential scenario which will come up,” an announcement from his workplace mentioned.
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In the meantime, Sri Lanka’s International Ministry on Sunday mentioned it was “deeply involved by the quickly escalating scenario” in West Asia and referred to as for an “fast de-escalation” of tensions. Sri Lanka “reiterates the necessity to respect the rules and functions of the UN Constitution, which prohibits the usage of drive towards the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” the Ministry mentioned in an announcement, with out naming any of the actors concerned.
Revealed – March 15, 2026 09:05 pm IST