Sri Lanka

Getting Electricity in

Sri Lanka

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: Ceylon Electricity Board
  • City: Colombo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Submit application to Ceylon Electricity Board and await external site inspection

An application cannot be submitted online. An application form issued by the relevant Authority (Ceylon Electricity Board - CEB ) should be submitted to the Bulk Supply Unit of CEB , together with (i) a copy of the Approved Building Plan, (ii) documentary evidence (Certificate of Ownership, Statutory Notice of Assessment for the current year, Non-vesting Certificate or a Writing issued by the CMCl) to establish the assessment number allotted to the property by the CMC and (iii) a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation. These documents need not be notarized.

Agency: Ceylon Electricity Board 		14 calendar days LKR 2,000.0
2 Ceylon Electricity Board conducts site inspection and provides estimate to customer

Utility engineer visits site to ascertain the distance from nearest supply point, and to estimate total cost of construction works.

Agency: Ceylon Electricity Board 		37 calendar days no charge
3 Request and receive Internal wiring inspection from Colombo Municipal Commission.

The request for internal wiring inspection from the Colombo Municipal Commission in person. Applicant has to submit only the building plan (COC) approved by CMC. This inspection is carried out by a Chartered Electrical Engineer, who is registered with the City Office of CEB. Request for the inspection could be made by phone.

Agency: Ceylon Municipal Commission 		14 calendar days LKR 15,000.0
4 Customer signs supply contract with Ceylon Electricity Board, and Ceylon Electricity Board conducts external connection works, installs the meter and electricity starts flowing

The security (meter) deposit is refundable on the disconnection of the electricity supply. Labour costs are charged by the CMC for laying cables, excavation and reinstatement works on Municipal Roads. Construction cost is essentially for construction of sub-station. This amount has to be submitted to the CEB.
Approved building plan from CMC is sufficient from applicant's side. But CEB has to get approval from following institutes (before cable laying);- Presidential Security Division; Traffic Police; Sri Lanka Police; Colombo Municipal Council.
All the material needed for the external connection is provided by the CEB. Meter is installed by the Construction Unit of the CEB and at the same time the connection is provided by the Area Unit of the CEB. Prior to the connection, the applicant should enter into an Agreement with the CEB for supply of electricity.

Agency: Ceylon Electricity Board 		67 calendar days LKR 3,205,852.5
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