PUCSL Chairman blames CEB’s inability to manage cash flow for its woes

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) earns about Rs. 35 billion a month and it has to learn how to manage its cash flow before seeking tariff hikes, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Ratnayake says.Ratnayake told the media yesterday that the CEB’s proposal for increasing electricity tariff again was unjustifiable. It was based on wrong information, he said.

“The CEB has not followed the standard procedure. This proposal is based on a presentation by its new GM with inputs from a female engineer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy. This is based on wrong facts. Luckily, the Cabinet has not taken a decision to increase tariffs and they do not have a right to do so,” he said, adding that the PUCSL had approved a proposal to increase tariffs in August 2022 and since then the CEB has an operational profit. There hasn’t been an increase in the price of raw materials used to produce electricity, he added.