• Notes ‘insignificant’ price reductions per world mkt. prices despite increased domestic competition

The Electricity Consumers Association (ECA) claimed that the people have not benefited from programmes such as increasing the access of foreign companies to sell fuel in Sri Lanka.

In the midst of the economic crisis that emerged in the country, the Government allowed the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) to increase the number of their filling stations and allowed the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) to commence their operations in the country.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the ECA General Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said that the fuel prices, which rose unbearably with the economic crisis, have not yet come down to a reasonable level. “Fuel prices, which were only between Rs. 100 and Rs. 200 per litre, have more than doubled in a very short period of time. The Government boasts that they have restored the economy, but the increased fuel prices have come down only by very limited rates with no significant benefit to the consumer,” he said.

He also charged that when expanding the opportunities for foreign companies such as the LIOC and Sinopec to sell fuel in Sri Lanka, the Government had stated that through that the people would be able to purchase fuel at competitive prices. However, he said that no such benefit has been provided to the people thus far. “The Government stated that fuel prices would come down when there are more competitors, but there was no such change. As usual, prices are only raised or lowered according to the prices of the world market.”

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera was not available for comment.

Late last year (2023), the ECA had written to several parties including the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Criminal Investigations Department, seeking an investigation into the alleged financial irregularities amounting to about Rs. 30 billion in the importation of fuel and crude oil for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in 2022, and action against the responsible individuals. In response to their complaint, the CIABOC had informed the ECA that it had, after studying the relevant complaint, decided to carry out a preliminary investigation into the matter.