Protest to be held in Colombo calling for 40% decrease in power tariff

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage

Electricity consumers are scheduled to hold a protest opposite the Public Utility Commission of Sri Lanka head office in Colombo 03, today, to pressure the government to reduce the power tariff by 40 percent.

Secretary of the Electricity Consumers’ Association, Sanjeewa Dhammika said that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) was earning huge profits by jacking up power tariffs and disconnecting power supply to those who could not settle the bills. “This is against the law. The Electricity Act No 20 of 2009 says the CEB is not to be a profit-making entity.

As per the existing law, the CEB is to calculate the cost of supplying electricity and recover only the production cost from the public. It is not there to make profits. The CEB has projected a profit of Rs. 73 billion for this year in its internal budget.  We are against CEB making profits at the expense of the consumers and disconnecting power connection to the customers who cannot settle their bills,” Electricity Consumers’ Association said.