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PUCSL rejects CEB’s request for tariff hike

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The Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) request for a fresh electricity tariff hike has been rejected by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

In a letter dated July 21, the CEB’s General Manager requested approval from the PUCSL for an immediate tariff hike. The CEB sought the tariff hike on the grounds that it is estimated to lose around Rs. 33 billion by the end of this year owing to the tariff reduction approved by the PUCSL for the second half of this year.

The CEB told the PUCSL that the reduction in its revenue would hinder the possibility of meeting additional expenditures for increased thermal power generation, increased demand and other essential expenditures.

The CEB said it would also impede its ability to settle the previous debt owed to renewable power producers and other suppliers.

The PUCSL, however, has rejected the CEB’s request for an immediate hike, pointing out that the CEB would actually have a surplus revenue amounting to Rs. 31.87 billion for the period from July to December this year.

“It is the Commission’s duty to ensure fairness in tariff for all stakeholders, including the consumers. Therefore, excessive revenue requested by the CEB is not fair and has no justification,” the PUCSL has said in its reply.

A senior CEB official told the Sunday Times that the Board did not calculate its earlier tariff taking into account the dry spell lasting up to four months. With the Met Department predicting that there would be no significant rainfall until at least September, the situation could become dire, warned the official. At present, hydropower generation has gone down to just 16% while 64% of power generation is through costly thermal power generation, the official pointed out.

If there are no rains by mid-September and the PUCSL continues to reject a tariff hike, there might be no option but to impose island-wide power cuts to manage the situation, the official warned.

A PUCSL source, however, rejected the CEB’s arguments, pointing to the Rs. 31 billion revenue surplus which the source claimed the CEB was sitting on.

Meanwhile, 17 opposition MPs have submitted a motion requesting the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to examine the electricity tariff hike affected earlier this year.

The MPs claim that the CEB’s revision of the tariff hike is in contravention of the PUCSL’s rules.

(sundaytimes.lk)

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Fmr. SDIG gets 5-yr. jail term

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The Ratnapura High Court has sentenced former Senior DIG Lalith Jayasinghe for five-year imprisonment for intimidating Kahawatte OIC not to arrest MP Premalal Jayasekera over a shooting incident.

Ratnapura High Court also ordered the convict to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000.

The shooting incident took place during the 2015 Presidential election campaign.

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Notice on issuing revenue licenses in WP

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The Department of Motor Traffic has decided to temporarily suspend the issuing of revenue licenses in the Western Province due to a system update.

According to the department, the services will be unavailable from this Wednesday (September 27) to next Monday (October 02). 

The Motor Traffic Department said in a statement that vehicles of which revenue licenses are expiring from Tuesday, September 26 can be renewed until October 10, without fines. 

Meanwhile, the online service for revenue licenses was temporarily suspended from midnight yesterday (September 24) and will remain so until Friday, October 06.

The department added that the temporary service suspension was due to an update on the system maintained by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka.

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CID ordered to hand over Schaffter’s remains to family

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The Colombo Additional Magistrate has ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to hand over the remains of late businessman Dinesh Schaffter to his family as postmortem examinations have been concluded.

The specialist doctors’ committee appointed to compile a report on Schaffter’s death had informed the courts that the relevant investigation activities have been concluded, and that the remains of the late businessman can be released.

Furthermore, Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya, also pointed out that the five-member expert committee headed by Prof. Asela Mendis, which was appointed by the court to compile a report on Schaffter’s death has informed the court that their judicial investigations have been completed.

Accordingly, the Additional Magistrate, who stated that the expert committee has requested the court to issue an order for the release of Schaffter’s remains, ordered the CID to hand over the body to his family under the supervision of Prof. Clifford Perera and Judicial Medical Officer P.R. Ruwanpura.

Later, the case was also ordered to be recalled on October 09, 2023.

(Source : adaderana.lk)

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