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Amid the ongoing conflict situation in the Middle East, the government has taken steps to reintroduce the previous QR system for issuing fuel in order to manage a possible future fuel shortage in the country. In this context, several fake statements claiming to be remarks made by government ministers and civil society activists regarding the fuel crisis have been widely shared on social media. Below is a fact check we conducted on a few such posts.
Claim 1:
Social Media Posts:
A social media post was shared claiming that Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa had stated, “If the fuel quota is not enough, doctors can go to hospitals by bicycle. It’s good for health too.”
This post has been widely circulated across social media.
We investigated whether Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa had actually made such a statement.
Fact Check :
Due to disruptions to global energy supply chains caused by the Middle East conflict, the Ministry of Power and Energy issued a special announcement on 14.03.2026 regarding the use of QR codes for fuel distribution to ensure uninterrupted supply. The announcement stated that the QR code system would come into effect from 6:00 AM on 15.03.2026 for purchasing fuel. The full announcement can be found here.
The Cabinet Spokesperson and Minister of Health and Mass Media, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, has made several statements to the media on various occasions, including Cabinet press briefings, regarding the fuel situation and those statements can be found here, here, here and here.
In those statements, the Minister has generally emphasized the need to reduce unnecessary energy consumption and to act with an understanding of the global situation during this period.
However, no evidence was found that the Minister made a statement similar to the one circulating on social media. Statements made by the Minister are generally reported in mainstream media. Therefore, we also checked whether any such statement had been reported but no such reports were found.
Media Secretary – Minister of Health and Mass Media, Nalinda Jayatissa
The Media Secretary of the Minister stated that the Minister had not made such a statement and that the circulating post was fabricated.
Claim 2:
Social Media Posts :
Another post claimed that Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage had stated, “If people had bought brand-new vehicles instead of used ones, we wouldn’t be facing the QR issue today.”
We then proceeded to verify whether the Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage had in fact made such a statement, and to examine the accuracy of this claim.
Fact Check :
With the reintroduction of the QR system, some individuals who had purchased used vehicles faced issues when registering for QR codes, receiving messages mentioning that the vehicle was already registered. However, it has since been announced that the National Fuel Pass system, which had technical issues earlier, is now fully restored and functioning properly. The full announcement can be found here. The claim that Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage made such a statement appears to have circulated in this context.
If Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage had made such a statement, it would have been reported through mainstream media. Accordingly, we reviewed mainstream media sources, but found no reports indicating that he had made such a statement.
A recent video of the Deputy Minister addressing the media on the fuel crisis was also reported by mainstream media. However, even in that video, he had not made any statement of this manner.
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage
The Media Secretary confirmed that the Deputy Minister had not made such a statement.
Additionally, Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage himself confirmed on his official Facebook account that the circulating post and statement are fake.
Claim 3 :
Social Media Posts :
Another post claimed that the QR code system should not only be introduced for fuel but also for all essential goods, claiming this was said by the Presidential Digital Affairs Advisor Chameera Jeevantha Deddduwage.
Fact Check :
Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, public attention has been drawn to possible impacts on essential goods supply and food security in Sri Lanka. It is in this context that the above claim has been circulated on social media. We checked Chameera Jeevantha’s Facebook account and mainstream media reports to verify whether he had made such a statement, but found no evidence.
Presidential Media Division
We also inquired whether Chameera Jeevantha Deddduwage serves as a Digital Affairs Advisor to the President. The Presidential Media Division confirmed that he does not hold such a position.
Chameera Jeevantha Deddduwage
He also stated that he had not made such a statement and that he had no connection with the government.
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Title: Fake Statements Circulating on Social Media Claiming to be Remarks on the Fuel Crisis
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo Team
Result: False
