Courtesy The Daily Mirror

According to the electricity board act and the Public Utilities Commission act, either the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Power and Energy Ministry, or the Cabinet Ministers do not have the authority to increase the electricity tariff, Former Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka today said.

He told the media that the aforementioned parties lacked the authority to change the tariff in a way that affected the past.

The full authority for announcing the electricity tariff is with the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

The PUCSL will conduct a public consultation and decide the percentage of the tariff revision, he said.

Accordingly, the cabinet announcement to increase the electricity tariff with effect from January 1 is against the constitution and against the law.

“The CEB General Manager and the Minister had said that the expenses of the CEB have increased and, therefore, a tariff revision is essential,” the former Minister claimed.

“There was a 75 percent hike in the electricity tariff in August 2022. CEB made cash profits in both October and November 2022, without taking into account old debt or financial costs. After increasing the tariff, the CEB had incurred a profit of Rs. 34,573 million,” the mininister said.

He presented that after the electricity tariff hike in August, the financial costs for the power generation and maintenance costs were covered to some extent.

Hence, the current “cost-reflective” 65% tariff hike could not be justified. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)