Sri Lanka to dispense fuel for vehicles on ‘odd–even’ basis
March 18, 2026 11:46 am
Owners of vehicles will be allowed to purchase fuel under an odd–even number plate system from today (19), according to the Managing Director of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Dr. Mayura Neththikumarage.
The CPC Managing Director noted that from tomorrow, fuel sales for vehicles will be carried out strictly on a rotating system based on odd and even numbers.
Under the system, the last digit of the vehicles with zero and even-numbered number plates will be allowed to purchase fuel on even-numbered dates.
Owners of vehicles with odd-numbered license plates will be permitted to purchase fuel on odd-numbered dates, Mayura Neththikumarage noted.
Accordingly, vehicles with number plates ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 will receive fuel on even-numbered days while vehicles with number plates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 will receive fuel on odd-numbered days.
Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, fuel supply routes are being disrupted on a daily basis, and fuel demand within the country is rising abnormally, the CPC noted. As a result, it has become necessary to conserve the available fuel reserves in the country.
Therefore, the government took steps to reintroduce the QR code system for obtaining fuel starting from 16 March.
