Has Rs. 12,500 million been allocated from the budget to provide vehicles for MPs?

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Some social media pages and media outlets reported that Rs. 12,500 million has been allocated in the 2026 budget proposal to provide vehicles for Ministers at Parliament. We did a fact-check to verify the accuracy of this news.

Social Media Posts :

A post circulating on social media stated “12,500 million to give cabs for the MPs, and 3,600 million to provide 600 buses to people.”, referring to the budget allocations for the MPs in the government budget for 2026.

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Many other social media posts circulated on the same theme.

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Many inquired whether these facts were actual, and we took steps to investigate.

Fact Check :

The Appropriation Bill for 2026 was presented to Parliament on November 7 by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

We examined the Appropriation Bill to see whether Rs. 12,500 million had been allocated for the provision of cabs for Members of Parliament as stated in the above social media posts.

There is no direct mention of providing vehicles specifically for Members of Parliament. However, under the proposals, the budget was allocated for “providing necessary machinery to government institutions and local government institutions.”

Under this, it was stated that government-owned vehicles and machinery are insufficient and many are old, leading to high repair costs. This situation has become an obstacle to the continuation of the government’s development activities. Considering this situation, the government has decided to purchase several vehicles and machinery essential to government institutions, as well as vehicles for parliamentary members, under the policy of return after the end of their term. A total of Rs. 12,500 million has been proposed for this purpose.

This provision has been made for the purchase of vehicles for government and local government institutions, as well as for Members of Parliament, and it does not specify that the funds are allocated solely to the purchase of vehicles for Members of Parliament.

Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister of Health and Mass Media Nalinda Jayatissa

Minister Nalinda Jayatissa also clarified that the news being circulated is entirely false, pointing out that a major media channel had reported the relevant news with a wrong interpretation. His explanation is below.

President’s budget speech

The President mentioned vehicles, vehicle permits, and the privileges of Members of Parliament and Ministers at the budget speech.

He stated that the government has taken steps to eliminate unnecessary privileges previously enjoyed by politicians and high-ranking officials, and that this process aims to build a new society based on fairness and equality.

The following are the comments made regarding the plans to renew the state vehicle fleet and the basis for providing vehicles to Members of Parliament.

The President stated that vehicles will be purchased for Members of Parliament on a return basis at the end of their term of office, and that it is proposed to allocate Rs. 12,500 million to purchase essential vehicles for Members of Parliament, and that if ministries do not have vehicles, a vehicle will be provided to the ministry.

The reason for this decision has been the massive increase in the cost of repairing existing state vehicles. The cost of repairing state vehicles in 2020 was seven billion rupees, and this cost has increased to 25 billion rupees in 2025. As a result, the MPs will be given cabs that must be returned at the end of their term.

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The President emphasised that the culture of issuing vehicle permits should end and unequivocally stated that no new permits would be issued. Furthermore, he mentioned that the existing permits are currently under review and that a study is being conducted on the vehicle permits already issued, which amount to around 20,000.

The President also mentioned the opening of the vehicle market in his budget speech. He pointed out that, due to the opening of the vehicle market, LCs for vehicles have been opened to the tune of $193 million as of October 30, an expenditure that was not there last year.

Allocation of vehicles for public transportation

Meanwhile, the President stated that establishing an efficient and sustainable passenger transport system to achieve the government’s long-term vision of “Public Transport Service – Efficient Destination” under sustainable infrastructure development is a priority of the current government, and that Rs. 67,200 million has been allocated in this year’s budget for this purpose.

Moreover, the Sri Lanka Transport Board is to introduce 600 buses for long-distance services to strengthen the public transport sector, and Rs. 3,600 million has been allocated for its basic activities.

The President also stated that Rs. 2,062 million has been allocated for the next year to replace the worn-out engine kits of 307 SLTB buses.

Rs. 790 million has been allocated to procure new tools, machinery and equipment required for the depots and workshops of the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

With the aim of making the railway service more efficient and passenger-friendly, Rs. 3,300 million has been allocated to the Sri Lanka Railways Department to acquire five new diesel power units. The President also pointed out that the initial work of digitising the railway service, including the issuance of e-tickets to railway passengers, has already begun.

Furthermore, private-sector service providers have been tempted to curtail bus operations on specific routes due to insufficient revenue. As a result, commuters in those rural areas are facing severe inconvenience. It is proposed to formally identify such routes and prepare a suitable program to provide sustainable transport services, and, as an interim solution, an additional provision of Rs. 2,000 million has been proposed for 2026.

Approval has also been granted to acquire 294 essential vehicles and modern communication equipment to reduce human-elephant conflicts and enhance the Department of Wildlife Conservation’s efficiency.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s full budget proposal is here.

Even before the National People’s Power came to power, the practice of issuing duty-free vehicle licenses to members of parliament and government officials was constantly criticised. They said that during the country’s economic crisis, it is a misuse of public funds and accused them of living a luxurious life at taxpayers’ expense.

National People’s Power leaders, including President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had pledged that a National People’s Power government would not issue or obtain duty-free vehicle licenses for anyone. Alleging that previous licenses were misused and sold for profit, the National People’s Power said that funds used for luxury vehicles should be directed to essential services, such as health care, or other public needs.

Instead of duty-free licenses, the NPP proposed that the government provide cost-effective, fuel-efficient vehicles to MPs and ministers for official duties only, and return them at the end of their term. They also point out that this approach aims to ensure that MPs can carry out their duties without any controversial licensing scheme.

The second reading debate on the 2026 Budget was held on 8 November. The second reading vote on the budget is scheduled for Friday, November 14, at 6 pm. The third reading of the budget, or committee stage debate, will be held for 17 days from November 15, and the third reading vote on the budget is scheduled for December 5^th at 6 pm. According to the Parliamentary Communications Department, the Budget debate is scheduled to be held every day during the budget period, except for public holidays and Sundays.

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Conclusion :

Our investigation shows that social media posts claiming that the 2026 budget proposal has allocated 12,500 million to provide cabs to 225 MPs are misleading. While this allocation includes the purchase of vehicles for MPs, it also provides for the purchase of essential vehicles for state institutions, as well as several vehicles and pieces of machinery supplied to MPs on a return basis at the end of their term.