PUCSL Chairman’s office sealed

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Ratnayake yesterday told the media that he would continue to be the head of the Commission.Addressing journalists from Australia, Ratnayake said he could remain in that position for 20 more months.

“Either a majority of MPs have to decide that I must resign. Or, they should find me guilty of a violation following an investigation,” he said.

Ratnayake said that some of the newly appointed members of the Commission had decided to approve the Cabinet approved CEB tariff proposal while he was not in the country.

“I came to Australia on 12 February and the GM went to the US on an official visit.

We appointed a director at the PUCSL to be Acting GM. At this point, some members of the commission decided to approve the CEB tariff plan. Then they called PUCSL officials to the Presidential Secretariat and asked them to place their signature on a letter addressed to the CEB, authorising the tariff hike. Politicians too were there. Officials had no option but to sign,” he said.

Ratnayake’s office at the PUCSL had been sealed yesterday by the police.

The PUCSL chairman also criticised the CEB’s decision to increase tariffs of people who consumed less than 90 units of electricity. Sri Lanka produced electricity from hydro power at around four rupees per unit and the profit made from these units must benefit the low income households, he said.

“In 2008, the CEB did something similar and the Supreme Court quashed it. The subsidies given to each segment should be decided by the PUCSL, not the CEB. About five million customers consume less than 90 units. How can they pay?” he asked.

Ratnayake added that in parallel to the increase in tariffs, the demand would drop, and the CEB would not be able to achieve its revenue targets, he said.

“We used to think that the demand for electricity was not elastic. However, after we increased tariffs in August 2022, there was a 12% drop in the demand. The CEB aims to make an additional Rs 267 billion from the tariff hike. In August 2022, the CEB made an additional Rs 180 billion rupees with the tariff hike. With these two hikes, the CEB is expected to around Rs 450 billion a year. This is about 1.2 billion US dollars. Now, the annual income of CEB will be about 700 billion. However, the question is whether the CEB has competent finance officers to mange its financial resources?” Ratnayake asked.