Consumers should be given the benefit of the undue profits earned by the CEB last year, said former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission Janaka Ratnayake.
It earned a profit of more than Rs. 50,000 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 by burdening consumers with an illegal increase in tariffs, he told the media yesterday (07).
“Therefore, the CEB should immediately distribute that Rs. 50,000 million among consumers,” he said.
Ratnayake said a claim of a 50 per cent reduction in tariffs during a future tariff revision is misleading, because a revision should take place on account of supply, demand and cost estimates.
He also criticized the proposed CEB act as one that has been drafted by a group ignorant of the industry, regulation and consumer rights, merely to exploit the consumers at will.
The proposed act will give authoritarian powers to the subject minister, he added.
