• Claim disconnections outsourced to pvt. contractors, hike of penalty fees sans consideration of units consumed comes under fire  

The Electricity Consumers' Association (ECA) claimed that the process of disconnecting the electricity supply of consumers who do not pay their electricity bills on time has now become a mafia.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, ECA Chairman, Sanjeewa Dhammika said that the work related to the disconnection of the electricity supply of relevant customers has been given to outsiders by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) on a contract basis. As the contractors are paid according to the number of disconnections, he claimed that they are now carrying out disconnections so as to earn more money. "There have been incidents of these contractors having disconnected the electricity supply even when consumers are out of the home. There are certain consumers who pay bills online. When the relevant person who made the payment online is not at home, the family members are not able to show the receipt. On such occasions, the contractors don’t listen to the consumers and disconnect the electricity supply just to increase the number of disconnections that they carry out," he claimed.

Dhammika further said that the penalty of Rs.1,200 which the consumers have to pay when their electricity supply is disconnected due to the non-payment of bills, has now been raised to Rs.3,000. "There are people who cannot pay their bill of around Rs.1,000. When their electricity supply is disconnected, they have to pay Rs.4,000 with the penalty. Is this fair? This penalty has been raised without considering the actual costs. In fact, the penalty should be decided based on the number of units that the consumers use."

When contacted by The Daily Morning to inquire about the allegation, CEB Chairman, Nalinda Illangakoon said that he had not come to know about such incidents. "I am not aware of this matter. However, if any consumer has been subjected to injustice, they can always reach out to us. Our main objective is to ensure that consumers are receiving a fair service. If there is any shortcoming, we will definitely take action to remedy them, but the relevant consumers should inform us," he added.

In August, 2022 and February of this year (2023), the CEB increased electricity tariffs of all categories of consumption by significant rates, and many consumers are therefore complaining that they cannot afford to pay their bills in the prevailing economic crisis. The CEB has however stated that it would disconnect the electricity supply to any consumer who fails to settle the bills in due course.