Concerns raised over placing burden of inferior coal costs on the public
March 18, 2026 04:17 pm
The Deputy President of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), Dr. Lakmal Fernando, stated that imposing the burden from the losses caused by inferior quality coal on the general public is an illegal act.
He made these remarks while participating in the final provincial public consultation session conducted by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) in Colombo on Wednesday (18), held to obtain verbal submissions from the public on the proposed revision of electricity tariffs for the second quarter of 2026.
Addressing the session, Dr. Fernando further noted that the electricity bill of the low-income consumer who uses the least electricity would increase by approximately 1,375%, while a high-end consumer using around 1,000 units would see their bill reduced from Rs. 56,000 to Rs. 18,876.
“So I do not think this is a fair system. All this was designed for the need of one person. It should not be like that,” he charged.
The public consultation sessions were initiated at the provincial level from February 25 with the objective of obtaining public input on the tariff revision proposal submitted by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
Accordingly, public comments were collected both verbally and in writing throughout the process, with the Western Province session held today at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).
This session marked the conclusion of the nationwide public consultation process.
