• Says PUCSL has taken an independent decision to increase bills by 22 per cent

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama   

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) must not become a slave of the polluters of the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and become a killer of electricity consumers by burdening the people unnecessarily, Samagi United Trade Union Force (SUTUF) convener and media spokesman Ananda Palitha said. 

  He told the Daily Mirror that the commission had made a statement without any authority that they would take a decision on increasing the electricity bills this Saturday (21).   
Policy decisions regarding the increase in electricity bills were taken by the Cabinet, and the Power and Energy Minister also made that statement. However, the PUCSL has taken an independent decision to increase the bills by 22 per cent. Earlier, the Commission had made a statement that they had the authority to consider the tariff increase.   

The SUTUF said the government must take responsibility and take the maximum legal action if the PUCSL has made any decision to increase electricity bills, and they should be arrested.   
The government is not collecting Rs. 934 billion in taxes from businessmen. Collecting Rs. 54,000 million in taxes from fraudulent businesses was abolished. Only the employees pay their taxes directly. Indirect taxes are paid for the essential commodities used by innocent people.   

Therefore, the increase in the current electricity tariff will increase the number of suicides by three per cent in the country.   

“The Cabinet Paper clearly said in January that the decisions to increase the electricity bill must be taken twice in the respective year. Accordingly, the tariff revision has to take place on February 15 and June 30 of the respective years.   

“After increasing the electricity tariff on July 30, the Power and Energy Minister made a statement that there will be no revisions till January 2024. With the rumours spreading regarding increasing of electricity tariffs, the Minister said there will be no tariff increase according to the CEB and PUCSL Act,” Palitha said.   

But the former PUCSL Commissioner, Janaka Rathnayaka had the backbone not to increase the electricity bill according to the Act, even though many requests were made by the CEB, but the current commissioner has taken decisions without considering the people’s lives, Palitha added.