Delays in submitting the National Electricity Policy to the Cabinet by the committee appointed on the recommendation of Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody have resulted in a postponement in declaring the formal ‘appointed date’ for the legal dissolution of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and its restructuring into new successor entities, sources close to the process have informed The Sunday Morning.
The sources claimed that the previously scheduled ‘appointed date’ of 14 February would not be feasible under the prevailing circumstances, as the policy was yet to be submitted to and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
In December last year, the draft National Electricity Policy, formulated in accordance with the Sri Lanka Electricity Act No.14 of 2025, was formally handed over to Minister Jayakody by the committee appointed for that purpose. The policy is a key component of a broader National Energy Policy framework being developed to address both current and future requirements of Sri Lanka’s energy sector.
The draft was prepared by a Cabinet-appointed expert committee tasked with formulating the National Electricity Policy following extensive deliberations. The committee comprises Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, Prof. Arulampalam Atputharajah, Prof. Wijendra Bandara, Dr. M.M. Gunatilake, Eng. W.J.L. Shavindaranth Fernando, and President’s Counsel Milinda Gunathilaka.
The draft National Electricity Policy was expected to undergo a public consultation process to obtain stakeholder feedback prior to being finalised and adopted as official Government policy. However, responding to questions posed by The Sunday Morning, Ministry of Energy Secretary Prof. Udayanga Hemapala said that the appointed date for restructuring would be declared only after the policy was submitted to the Cabinet and formally approved.
Meanwhile, nearly 2,200 employees of the CEB who applied for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) have appealed for urgent intervention from religious leaders and political authorities, citing severe uncertainty arising from delays in implementing power sector reforms.
The employees have written to the Mahanayake Theras of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters, the Advisory Executive Council of the Sangha, and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, urging immediate action to gazette the ‘appointed date’ required to operationalise restructuring under the Electricity Act.
The applicants have stated that they opted for voluntary retirement based on official Government assurances, but remain unable to formally exit service or pursue future plans due to the absence of the gazette notification. They have warned that the prolonged delay has triggered what they describe as a humanitarian crisis, with employees facing the loss of overseas job opportunities, family separations, stalled business ventures, financial difficulties, and stress-related health concerns.
In their appeals, the employees call for the immediate declaration of the ‘appointed date’ through a gazette notification and, as an interim measure, the issuance of a CEB circular granting approved no-pay leave to VRS applicants until restructuring is finalised. The VRS was gazetted on 26 August 2025 following Cabinet approval, with around 2,200 employees formally notifying the CEB of their decision to retire by 27 October 2025.
The VRS process has also come under criticism by some observers and Opposition politicians, with claims made that the CEB is planning to make the customers shoulder the burden of the VRS payments through revised electricity tariffs.