(June 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government has decided to grant a concession to places of religious worship and charitable institutions – a reduction of the surcharge of 30% for places of worship that consume less than 90 units of electricity. This is of no purpose. Hardly any place of worship will use less than 90 Units. It will always be much more. The consumption of electricity in places of religious worship will easily be from 250/500 to 750/1,500 Units or even more. There could be large places of religious worship that consume more than 1,506 to 2,000 Units, bearing in mind that places of religious worship have to be built to accommodate a fair number of worshippers.
The present reduction of the 30% surcharge for places of religious worship is meaningless and of no advantage at all. As a result, places of religious worship will have to pay anything from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 100,000/- or even more on their consumption of electricity. The government says it will lose approximately Rs. 150 million as a result of this concession. It will probably lose nothing, as there would be virtually no place of worship that uses under 90 units of electricity.
It is time that the government was more realistic, and allowed the removal of the entire 30% adjustment surcharge from all places of religious worship irrespective of the units consumed. The government could, of course, urge these places to reduce their consumption as much as possible, but under no circumstances should they be asked to pay the present high rates of electricity.
It is time also for the CEB to formulate less complicated ways of submitting their bills. It is better to have one flat rate and have consumers charged a firm flat rate for the consumption of electricity each month. Today what happens is that adjustments are made on the current bill on the previous month's bill for the fuel adjustment surcharge. Let there be an amalgamation of the two rates into one rate. There should be no additions made on a current bill for the previous month's bill. Let there be one firm flat rate for electricity each month. It will also make billing easier for the CEB. Giving one rate for consumption and another rate after one month for a fuel surcharge is of no use. The consumer in the end pays both rates. Let us pay the whole bill for June and end it there with no further calls being made for a later payment for the June bill. The people just do not want any more eyewash. It is better to take the bitter dose in one shot. Is this too much for the government and the CEB to understand?
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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