10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

The Hon. S.M. Marikkar

Samagi Jana Balawegaya· Colombo· 17 June 2025 ·Oral question: Oral Question Q.279/2024: SMS Service for Electricity Bills

Public FinanceLaw & Order
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Hon. S.M. Marikkar asked whether the Ceylon Electricity Board would introduce a telephone reminder system before disconnecting electricity for non-payment, particularly for elderly customers using basic mobile phones who may not notice SMS alerts. He emphasized that electricity is an essential service and noted that unexpected disconnections and high reconnection costs create hardship for consumers.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 My first supplementary question: You stated about 2.9% are unregistered. Among registered users, especially elderly people with basic phones (non-smartphones), many complain they cannot see the SMS. Then, without their knowledge, the power gets disconnected. Electricity is an essential service. Instead of abrupt disconnections, is there a system to give a telephone reminder call before disconnection? Reconnection costs are high. Is the CEB planning such a mechanism?

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Tuesday, 17 June 2025 ·No. 1750929357043199 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. S.M. Marikkar. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 17 June 2025. No. 1750929357043199. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/14503