PUCSL chief to seek court order to reverse electricity increase

Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Ratnayake today vowed to file action in courts to reverse the government’s action to increase the electricity tariff.

Mr Ratnayake addressing the via Zoom from Australia said that the tariffs approved by three members of his Commission was ‘illegal’ as they had only endorsed the CEB proposals instead of studying the proposals and make its recommendations.

He claimed that the initial Commission recommendation was to revise the rates those using above 300 units, but eventually the highest revision had been for those who use between 30 to 90 units.

Mr Ratnayake claimed that the Acting Director General of the PUCSL had been summoned to the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday evening to get the final approval. :That is an illegal act. It is an interference with an independent Commission”, he added.

Commenting on the Police sealing his office premises located at the Merchant tower in Kollupitiya on a court order, he said that he welcomed the move as it would protect the documents in his office.

He said that the Police had sought a court order to ensure that the documents in his room are protected.

“That was a good decision because someone may try to introduce some documents into my room”, he said. (Pix by  Priyanka Samaraweera)