Sri Lanka’s petroleum sector which is on track to be liberalised following a change to the sector law should be regulated by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and not a committee under the minister, legislators said.
“There will be no independent regulation if the sector is overseen by a committee under the Minister,” opposition legislator Kabir Hashim told parliament during a debate on the new legislation, which was passed.
The PUCSL which has some shadow regulatory power over petroleum, however, had no powers to issue licenses for petroleum players.