Minister of Transport Service Management, Power and Energy Mahinda Amaraweera said he has instructed the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to rectify the errors promptly, in calculating the monthly electricity bills of some consumers.
The Minister has directed the CEB and Lanka Electricity Company (Private) Ltd. (LECO) to issue separate electricity bills to consumers for the months of March and April and provide a grace period to settle the bills. Accordingly, consumers will be given a one-month grace period to settle their bills of the last two months with no extra charges imposed for delays.
A discussion was also held regarding the billing issue on Wednesday (May 13).
There are instances where some errors have occurred in calculating the electricity bills. Therefore, steps will be taken to immediately rectify all errors, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
Minister Amaraweera said we request electricity consumers to pay a similar amount that they paid in February for the months of March and April. After reading the electricity meters, all errors will be rectified. We would not leave room for any injustice to the consumers.
However, it has been alleged that some consumers had received electricity bills for March and April with exorbitant amounts. When the Minister queried this from the CEB it has been revealed that it was a mistake on the part of the CEB. The Minister has instructed the CEB and LECO to rectify the errors at the earliest and issue new bills to the aggrieved consumers.
The Minister said electricity bills will be calculated taking into consideration the number of units consumed and no additional charges will be added to the bills. He said there is no decision on any power cuts or tariff hikes in the face of the current situation.