Secretary to the President P.B.Jayasundera has directed the Treasury Secretary to take necessary procedural steps to close the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

The letter dated on December 1, 2020 also stated that “to absorb the technical staff to the Department of National Planning and also deploy such staff to the Ministry of Power and to this office depending on their competencies to serve in respective places on planning and analytical work.”

“As tariff and connected regulatory work is within the Government purview, certain relevant provisions in the Utility Commission Act could be incorporated in Consumer Affairs Authority and Ceylon Electricity Board Act when the PUC Act is replaced in due course,” it added.

In the 2021 budget, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his budget speech stated : I also propose to amend the Public Utilities Commission Act and Ceylon Electricity Board Act to allow the rapid implementation of projects.”

According to the PUC website the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is the economic,technical and safety regulator of the electricity industry in Sri Lanka and the and the designated regulator for petroleum and water services industries. PUCSL also has been assigned as the shadow regulator for the lubricant market in Sri Lanka.  PUCSL was established by The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Act No. 35 of 2002.

“With the powers given by the Sri Lanka Electricity Act No. 20 of 2009, PUCSL commenced to regulate as the economic, technical and safety regulator of the electricity industry,” the website stated.