• CPC has stopped providing fuel on credit basis
• SOEs owe CPC Rs. 100 billion in arrears
• CPC increases tariff while holding billions in arrears

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is struggling to recover nearly Rs. 234 billion in arrears owed as of 1 July of this year, with efforts underway from the Ministry of Power and Energy and the Treasury to expedite collecting the debt owed, The Sunday Morning learns.

It is reliably learnt that the CPC is owed the colossal amount of Rs. 234 billion in arrears for the sale of fuel by nearly 20 State and private institutions. Among them are several Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and large-scale State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) like SriLankan Airlines and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

It is in the backdrop of the CPC holding billions in arrears that the Government recently increased the fuel tariff, citing international market fluctuations. 

When contacted, Ministry of Power and Energy Secretary M.P.D.U.K. Mapa Pathirana would not confirm or deny the figure, but stressed that all efforts were being made by the CPC and the ministry to recover arrears, with consultations ongoing with the Treasury on how to claim the arrears from the many State institutions. 

Pathirana would not comment on a timeline for the arrears to be collected.

Attempts to contact CPC Chairman Mohamed Uvais Mohamed and Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera on whether the CPC was passing on the burden of its arrears to the commuter and motorist at the pump failed.  

Sources close to the matter told The Sunday Morning on terms of anonymity that SriLankan Airlines was the single biggest debtor to the CPC, with a total outstanding amount of Rs. 97.8 billion owed to the fuel supplier. 

The CEB ranked second on the list of shame, with Rs. 80 billion in arrears. 

The armed forces and Police collectively owed the CPC Rs. 2.4 billion in arrears.