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Consumer rights group alleges impending price hikes in fuel, power

18 May 2022

  • Alleges fraud and corruption at CPC and CEB resulting in losses 
BY Dinitha Rathnayake  The National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection alleged that the Government is working to increase fuel prices and electricity tariffs. “Addressing the nation on 16 May, the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that the Government is currently losing Rs. 84.38 per litre of petrol, Rs. 131.55 per litre of diesel and Rs. 294.50 per litre of kerosene and that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) can no longer afford this situation. It was further stated that a unit of electricity costs Rs. 48 and that accordingly, the loss per unit of electricity is Rs. 30,” stated a spokesperson of the movement. Several media outlets have reported that the Government is planning to increase the prices of diesel, kerosene, and electricity. “At a time when the people of this country are well aware that the CPC and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) are incurring this loss due to fraud and corruption in those institutions, we as a consumer organisation strongly oppose any action taken by the Government to increase prices without looking into the existing frauds and corruption in those institutions.  “At this juncture, we ask the new Premier whether consumers are responsible for losses incurred due to frauds and corruption in the relevant institutions and therefore urge him to immediately look into the causes of losses incurred by those institutions,” the Movement added.  “Accordingly, we hope that action will be taken to stop fraud and corruption in those institutions and to prevent such losses.”  Attempts to contact the Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera proved futile, while the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy is yet to be appointed.


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