Auto-rickshaws are a mode of informal public transport that can be found all over South and
Southeast Asia. Millions of people make a living as auto-rickshaw driver and every day millions of
people use auto-rickshaws for urban transportation. The auto-rickshaw business is enormous, but as
it is a type of informal economy, it is largely unregulated. This thesis discusses the regulation of
auto-rickshaws in Galle, a mid-sized city in Southern Sri Lanka. Data was collected by the methods
of (1) surveys among auto-rickshaw drivers, the local population and foreign tourists, (2) structured
interviews with government officials and other parties, (3) observation at auto-rickshaw parks and
(4) interviews with auto-rickshaw drivers and local people. The results show that the auto-rickshaw
business in Galle is for a large part self-regulated; in particular the fares, customer allocation and
market-entry are subject to internal regulation. However, self-regulation is limited by the economic
implications for auto-rickshaw drivers and in order to improve the provided transport service,
passenger safety and negative effects of the business, like traffic congestion or pollution, regulations
from external parties are necessary. Five different external regulation initiatives are analysed and it
can be concluded that such regulation initiatives can only be efficient when (1) all involved parties
are included in the process and (2) the economic implications for auto-rickshaw drivers remain
unaffected. With this case-study, the concept of informal public transport regulation is revised and a
distinction is made between internal regulation and external regulation. It is argued that for the
regulation of informal public transport, existing internal regulations should be included.