CEB outsourcing overdue bill collections

During the early afternoon hours on April 01, 2024, out of all days, we had two unannounced visitors who arrived at our home on a motor scooter. Upon inquiry, they said that they came to disconnect our electricity supply, as the due payments have not been made in full. I was taken aghast by their announcement as Easter and the New Year season was just round the corner and my granddaughter is preparing for her GCE Ordinary .Level Examination and hence it is definitely not a time to run the risk of having to be in total darkness, which somehow has to be avoided, at any cost.

As to be expected, I assumed that the visitors were from the Ceylon Electricity Board ( CEB) and when I asked them what is the amount due, one of them said it is Rs. 24,000 and has to be paid immediately since they are also visiting about thirty houses in our locality, which have been earmarked for disconnection. I said that I am a Government pensioner and that there is no way to pay that much immediately and asked what is the minimum amount to be paid, in order to avoid immediate disconnection. Then the second person did some fiddling with his telephone and said that in that case Rs. 13,000 has to be settled immediately and the balance within 10 days.

Without further ado, we decided to somehow pay the Rs.13,000 and avoid immediate disconnection of our electricity supply which is a basic need at this critical time, even at the risk of running short of some cash for other expenses. Accordingly, I almost scraped the barrel and made the above payment online and showed the receipt to the two visitors who left on their mission of disconnections on that April Fool’s Day, advising us to settle the balance sooner than later, to avoid disconnection.

Exactly a fortnight later, on April 15, 2024, at just past 0830 hrs., I found a small slip of a CEB bill pushed in through our front door and for clarity sake, a photo of it is annexed herewith. It showed that the CEB has added Rs. 3,142.64 under “Debits/Charges”. As this was not clear to me, I immediately dialed the CEB Hotline 1987, and upon inquiry I was told that this charge under reference is for the task of visiting our home for disconnection arising out of our delayed payments, an activity that has been given on contract according to the person who answered my call, which I suppose is the same as outsourcing with respect to state activities which is the trend nowadays.

I remember a previous occasion sometime back , when two CEB officials came on a similar disconnection mission and we acted in the same manner by making the payment pronto at a communications shop nearby and showing them the receipt. No special charge was levied for that visit on that occasion.

I thought of writing about this incident of contracted teams visiting homes for disconnection of electricity supply, which was never heard of earlier as it was handled by CEB officials, and to highlight the unreasonable levy of over Rs.3,000 just for a visit aimed at disconnection. Whoever the contractor is, he must be making good money through these visits, if a team of two covers over 30 houses in one afternoon. Also, I wonder whether there is no risk involved in non-CEB personnel handling supply disconnections and CEB equipment and maybe CEB will send such contracted teams, for re connections too, in time to come.

At a time when the hapless electricity consumer finds it difficult to meet the electricity bills which have increased by leaps and bounds in recent times, it is most unreasonable to outsource activities, like home visits for disconnections, that were earlier handled by CEB officials without an extra charge and then levy an exorbitant charge of over Rs.3,000 per visit. It is difficult to comprehend why the CEB has to engage contractors to do this type of activity which was earlier handled by its own officials. I do hope that this letter will catch the eye of some relevant authority as this is not the type of “system change” that the suffering masses are clamoring for, which hit the public purse very badly, but fills that of another party unreasonably.

I am no Electrical Engineer, but any layman can understand that the efficiency and effectiveness of the CEB which is a vital public service organization cannot be increased by imposing unreasonable levies through outsourcing activities that could be handled internally and keeping on increasing the regular electricity charges as is happening now, while also boasting about the profits being made, at the cost of the public.

A. Bedgar Perera
Email < bedgarperera@gmail.com>