Hoteliers look for ways to cut huge energy bill
View(s):By Sunimalee Dias
Hoteliers are aiming at reducing their electricity bill in the wake of the recent price hike but are unlikely to resort to seek legal remedies, similar to a previous rise in power rates, industry officials said.
Last week hoteliers were readying to meet up with the electricity board authorities to ensure they would be able to find a resolution to the present crisis.
“What we are trying to do is to get the industrial rate,” City Hoteliers Association President K. Shanthikumar told the Business Times on Wednesday adding that a planned meeting by the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) to discuss the situation was postponed this week.
He noted that though the industry had in a previous instance attempted to resolve a similar power crisis through legal action however, this time they would not be resorting to these measures.
Mr. Shanthikumar said they would not go to courts on the electricity tariff hike but hope to arrive at an “amicable solution” once they meet with Ceylon Electricity Board authorities.
The Business Times reported last week that the hike in electricity prices, effective from next month, has forced hoteliers to absorb the costs as Sri Lanka continues to be an expensive destination for most tourists. Hotels are unable to pass on these ad hoc hikes to their guests as the room rates have already been contracted for the entire year.Room rates islandwide increased from 35-40 per cent since 2009 and it has left no room for further increases as more hotels continue to come up in the already competitive market.
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) had allowed hoteliers to also present their case where the sector had detailed all relevant information noting that Sri Lanka in relation to its competitors was paying an already high electricity bill.
In this respect, hoteliers had asked for them not to be categorized separately but to be placed under the industrial sector.
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