Every year, thousands of tourists from around the world make their journey towards Sri Lanka looking for sun and sand, trekking, culture, and a general tranquil experience. They say that Sri Lanka offers a relatively safer travel experience in comparison to certain parts of India, as well as being much cheaper than its competitor destinations in Southeast Asia.
Speaking on TikTok to his over 6,000 followers, Sidney George (@sidneyygeorge), a social media travel enthusiast, noted that although Sri Lanka offered affordable experiences, transport through apps had been a contentious experience for him.
“One thing I will say about Sri Lanka; prices – very, very good so far. Much cheaper foods, beers, and transport is cheaper. However, with the apps it’s very difficult, because most of the riders don’t want to do it with the app – their version of Grab. So there’s a bit of a tuktuk mafia. So if you’re travelling, be careful,” he said in a video he posted earlier this year.
A tuktuk mafia?
Complaints of this nature span as far as six years back on Tripadvisor, a travel guidance platform that offers travellers the space to share their experiences. Travellers detail run-ins with what they call a ‘tuktuk mafia,’ which primarily congregates outside train stations in Ella, Kandy, and Galle Fort.
The term once again made a comeback into the discourse this year, with ride-hailing service platform PickMe referencing the so-called syndicate in a public statement.
“The recent verbal attack on a PickMe driver by tuk drivers in Galle and the Police investigation that followed is encouraging and a step in the right direction,” the statement said, detailing an incident where a PickMe three-wheeler driver had been targeted by a group of non-gigworker three-wheeler drivers. “The three-wheeler service is, in fact, a public transport system that acts as a last-mile transport solution for passengers.”
“While this incident is unfortunate, it showcases an ugly side to those operating this form of transport service. However, we firmly believe that this is done by a small section of the service providers who try to operate their services in a mafia style, through threats and intimidation,” the platform said.
“In the past, we had had many reports from the PickMe network of such bullying, especially in Kandy, Ella, Galle, Unawatuna, and Negombo Hotel Road areas. Unfortunately, drivers on the PickMe network are reluctant to make a complaint to the Police as they fear repercussions on the road by this mafia,” the statement further said.
Aside from the intimidation that stems from using ride-hailing apps for hires, the mafia, according to traveller testaments on user-generated sites, is also said to charge exorbitant, non-negotiable prices from tourists.
Further, such groups are said to expose tourists to guided scams, wherein tourists are verbally coaxed and promised to be shown certain landmarks but are offered a different experience instead. This usually results in tourists being unable to complain about their experience, as such groups operate independently from platforms.
PickMe, in its statement, added that the incident in Galle was a clear sign of visitors “no longer wishing to haggle with three-wheeler drivers on the road”. “It is the overseas visitors’ preference to go with the app-based taxi-hailing option that caused grief to the PickMe driver,” it added.
SLTDA stance
“As a practice, this is clearly something that can be charged as a civil offence. As the Tourism Board, we have been doing some activities to introduce more ethical practices to tourism service providers, but such activities from our end are not geared towards three-wheeler drivers per se; they are for drivers working within the tourism industry who work with tour operators and other registered service providers,” Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam told The Sunday Morning Business.
Hewawasam further explained that it was not possible to train three-wheeler drivers as they were not overseen by a body or official group through centralised control.
“The problem is that they are not centralised, so they cannot be trained. It’s not like they are registered professionally, coming under the purview of a local authority. When we conduct training, it is for people connected with hotels, resorts, and other types of tourism-related establishments. It is impractical to have them centralised,” he said.
Hewawasam added that there were awareness campaigns initiated by the authority advising tourists to choose legal and standard means of transport, adding that the SLTDA and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) advised them to use services by SLTDA-registered tour operators and transport providers.
“However, there is a level of exaggeration to these incidents. Sri Lanka was named as one of the safest places for female solo travel. This sort of thing has been given undue promotion,” Hewawasam added.
In 2024, Sri Lanka was named by British cultural magazine Time Out as the ‘safest country in the world for solo female travellers.’ In 2025, Sri Lanka ranked 12th place on the same annual list.
“If you take a country like India, the incidence of intimidation and harassment of tourists is much higher. Sri Lanka has not fallen into such a situation. It’s well known that tourists are appreciative of our goodwill as people and our sense of hospitality,” Hewawasam said.
However, PickMe noted that the incident in Galle had spurred a larger conversation on Sri Lankan tourism beyond Sri Lanka.
“What is even more disturbing is that tourists are recording and sharing these incidents on social media. What damage it will do to our tourism industry is anybody’s guess. Now that the situation is being made public by overseas visitors, it is more serious and we fervently hope the Police will take necessary action to ensure the safety of our driver partners and bring about a permanent solution to this matter,” its statement read.
Resolving issues with apps
More recently, in a report titled ‘Flexibility and Fairness in Platform Labour: Navigating Gig Work in Colombo’ published by the Centre for a Smart Future (CSF), a Colombo-based think tank, it was found that one reason as to why drivers vehemently reject moving into using ride-hailing platforms is the “little understanding” they have surrounding how the algorithm allocates rides, leading to a negative perception of unfairness and thereby frustration.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, CSF Researcher Anisha Gooneratne, who had worked on the report, said: “The ‘information asymmetry’ caused by the opaque nature of the algorithm forces drivers to constantly guess how to please the algorithm, leading to significant mental strain and stress.”
Further, she added that this often led to a practice of resisting the said platforms, and sometimes even protocols set by the platform, with a noted incidence of drivers refusing rides based on the payment method, such as cash or card, as a response to the frustration caused by engaging with the platform.
“To alleviate these frustrations, platforms can disclose the factors that influence ride allocation, performance ratings, and pay to workers. Another point of contention is the language accessibility. If platforms can provide all important documentation and communication in the two vernacular languages, Sinhala and Tamil, in language that is simple and clear, that would also help create a sense of better understanding with the riders.”
Further, Gooneratne said that the report detailed how the establishment of physical centres, where gig workers could drop in and resolve issues related to the app and payments, would also be a means by which their resistance and frustrations with the app would be addressed and mitigated to a certain extent. “Also, the idea of introducing a channel for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is recommended in the report, as a means by which the well-being and safety of workers can be addressed.”
On the other hand, there is a need for formal recognition of gig workers as an integral workforce within the economy by the Government, Gooneratne said. “The Department of Census and Statistics should include a specific category for gig workers in Labour Force Surveys to better inform policy.”
“National laws should be revisited to formally recognise gig work and introduce regulations for OSH specific to gig workers. The Government too should have a part in providing free, accessible OSH training through digital channels,” she added.
Govt. efforts
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Ministry of Transport Public Relations Officer Damian Weerakkody said that the National Transport Commission (NTC) was in the process of drafting a policy document, which was meant to formally recognise three-wheeler drivers.
“Currently there is a policy being drafted by the NTC, which is yet to be presented to the Cabinet, where we have included some recommendations on formally recognising three-wheeler drivers and connecting them to the national insurance grid through the Government,” he said.
Speaking on the proposed insurance scheme, Weerakkody added: “The proposed sum that is needed to be allocated on a daily basis towards the scheme is 0.5% of the day’s earnings.” By recognising three-wheeler drivers, Weerakkody explained that the Government intended to build a relationship with them.
“We believe that formally recognising them and holding them to a standard will address disciplinary issues. We want to start building a rapport with them by giving them this scheme,” he noted.
Addressing disciplinary issues, he stated: “If you take countries like Singapore and Dubai, another aspect we see is that everything from ticketing onwards is digitalised. Therefore, there’s a lower likelihood of a tourist being charged an exorbitant amount for a ride due to their lack of awareness of local rates. If done in this manner, they can easily report their complaint with the digital evidence and that kind of oversight is something we need to adapt to.”
In the immediate term, Weerakkody sees the Government rollout to provide driving licences to tourists as a means by which tourists can circumvent issues related to transport haggling and the so-called mafia. “We gave foreigners temporary licences and those with licences from other countries are able to visit the relevant Government office and retrieve this licence to travel as they like,” he said.
However, Weerakkody conceded that not all tourists could make use of this solution.