By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera  
Steps are being taken to introduce a mechanism to pay the connection charge for new electricity connections through an instalment payment scheme, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said yesterday.  
He told Parliament that the proposal to introduce the instalment payment scheme has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and that it will be announced by next week.  
Responding to an oral question raised by Parliamentarian W.H.M. Dharmasena, the Minister said the new system will allow consumers to obtain new connections after paying only 25 per cent of the total connection fee, which is around Rs. 40,000, and pay the rest in ten or twelve instalments.