Cabinet approves payments to chairpersons, members of Independent Commissions

Cabinet has approved the payment of emoluments and allowances to the Chairmen and Members of the nine Independent Commissions set up under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Chairmen of each Commission will be paid a monthly allowance of Rs 100,000, a monthly telephone allowance of Rs 10,000. They will be provided with an official vehicle and a monthly fuel quota of 225 litres or, a fuel allowance on par with the prevalent fuel price in the market.

In the case of Chairmen who are Ex Officio members, the monthly allowance will be 50% of the monthly allowance of a Chairman of an Independent Commission. This payment is in addition to salary and other allowances in their substantive posts.

Non Ex Officio Members of all other Commissions, except the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, will be paid a monthly allowance of Rs 75,000, a monthly telephone allowance of Rs 8,000 and a monthly transport allowance of Rs 25,000, up to a limit of 350 km or, a transport allowance of Rs 50,000 for distances exceeding 350 km, depending on the distance from their residences to the Commission office.

An attendance allowance of Rs 10,000 per meeting will also be paid to Ex Officio Members of Independent Commissions.

In the case of the Chairman of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and Members, a monthly allowance of Rs 95,000, a monthly telephone allowance of Rs 8,000 and an official vehicle with a monthly fuel quota of 170 litres or, a fuel allowance on par with the prevalent fuel price in the market.

The Chairman and Members of the Elections Commission, during the period from the date of declaring an election to the date of releasing results, will be entitled to a special allowance equal to ¾ of their monthly allowance.

The nine Commissions are the Election Commission, Public Service Commission, National Police Commission, Audit Service Commission, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, Finance Commission, Delimitation Commission and National Procurement Commission.

A motion will be presented to Parliament shortly by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for Parliamentary sanction to effect the payments.