CEB mum on audit query regarding its chaotic accounts

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) does not have a centralised system to handle its employees’ salaries and allowances though it pays around 40 types of allowances, the Auditor General’s Department has revealed.

The AG’s Department has also found that, in 2017, hundreds of CEB officials obtained allowances exceeding 65% of their monthly salary, in violation of the recommendations made by a committee that looked into the allowances paid by the CEB in 2008.The Auditors General’s Department has found it difficult to obtain information about the CEB employees’ salaries and allowances, E.A.N.P. Edirisinghe, of the Auditor General’s Department has said in a letter, dated July 06, 2018, to the CEB Director General.

“Although the CEB gives its employees over 40 types of allowances, the institution does not maintain sub ledger codes for them. This makes it difficult for the CEB to obtain necessary data.”

The Auditor General’s Department has also stated that in 2017, the CEG paid its workers’ PAYE, amounting to Rs. 678 million.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy Sulakshana Jayawardena said that the CEB had not yet responded to the letter by the Auditor General’s Department.