55.
| (1) In this section, the expression "electricity supply charge" means the sum payable to the Board for electrical energy supplied by the Board. |
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| (2)
| | (a) The electricity supply charge of a local authority in respect of any month shall be paid by such authority-
| | | (i) within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt by such authority of a bill relating to such charge from the Board, or |
| (ii) where such authority, upon receipt of such bill, disputes, under sub-section (3), a part or the whole of the amount of such charge-
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| | (b) A bill relating to the electricity supply charge sent by the Board to a local authority shall be dispatched by registered post and shall be deemed to have been received by that authority on the day on which that bill would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post. | | |
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| (3) Where a local authority receives a bill from the Board for the payment of the electricity supply charge of such authority in respect of any month, such authority may, within a period of twenty-one days from the date of receipt by that authority of such bill, dispute a part or the whole of the amount of such charge by a written communication to that effect to the Board. Such communication shall specify the portion of such amount so disputed and the reasons therefor. |
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| (4) No local authority shall be entitled to dispute the amount of the electricity supply charge of such authority in respect of any month except under and in accordance with sub-section (3). |
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| (5) Where a part or the whole of the amount of the electricity supply charge of any local authority in respect of any month is disputed by such authority, such disputed part of the amount-
| | (a) shall be finally determined by agreement between the Board and such authority, or | | |
| | (b) in the absence of such agreement within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt by the Board of a communication as to such dispute from such authority under sub- section (3), shall be finally determined by arbitration, and for that purpose, the Board is hereby required and authorized to refer the dispute to arbitration through the Minister. | | |
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| (6) A final determination as to the disputed part of the amount of the electricity supply charge of any local authority, whether by agreement or on arbitration, shall be binding on the Board and such authority. |
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| (7) Where the electricity supply charge of a local authority in respect of any month is not paid by such authority to the Board within the period it is so required to be paid under sub-section (2), the Chair- man of the Board shall certify in writing the amount which is due from such authority on account of such charge that has not been so paid. |
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| (8) Upon the production of a certificate issued by the Chairman of the Board under sub-section (7) before any District Court or Court of Requests within whose jurisdiction the whole or any part of the area of administration of the local authority in respect of which such certificate is issued is situated, according as the sum specified in such certificate exceeds or does not exceed seven hundred and fifty rupees, the court shall direct a writ of execution to issue to the Fiscal authorizing him and requiring him to seize and sell all or any of the property movable or immovable of such authority or such part thereof as may be necessary for the recovery of that sum, and the provisions of sections 226 to 297 of the Civil Procedure Code shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the execution of such writ and to such seizure and sale. |
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| (9) Where the Chairman of the Board issues the certificate referred to in sub-section (7), he shall in writing notify the local authority specified in the certificate that the sum so specified is payable, but the non -receipt of such notice by such local authority shall not invalidate the proceedings under this section. |
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| (10) Nothing in the provisions of sub-sections (8) and (9) of this section shall affect or be deemed or construed to affect the right of the Board to recover in any other manner any sum payable to the Board by a local authority on account of the electricity supply charge of that authority. |
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| (11) Any sum due to the Board from a local authority in respect of the electricity supply charge of that authority shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law, be the first charge on the moneys in the fund of that authority. |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts