22 September 2023 09:34 am Views - 99
By Yohan Perera and Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana
To mitigate the present crisis of counterfeit security stickers on liquor bottles that incur a loss of billions of rupees to the government, a new digital security sticker should be introduced, was opined by Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka.
The MP said by introducing a new digital security sticker many issues could be answered including calculating the correct tax revenue to the state as well the public has an assurance about the authenticity of the alcoholic beverage they consume.
MP Ranawaka made these remarks when the Committee on Ways and Means gathered at the Parliament yesterday with the representatives of the Department of Excise. It was revealed that more than 90 per cent of liquor bottles that have come under inspection by the Excise Department consisted of counterfeit stickers.
The officials of the Excise Department had informed the Ways and Means Committee that 55,000 bottles out of the total of 60,533 bottles that had come under inspection have been found to be counterfeit stickers.
MP Ranawaka who is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee requested the Excise Department to provide a full report on the inspection carried out on counterfeit stickers. He said a QR code could be included in the new digital sticker, which could gain details of the authenticity of a liquor bottle to be sold in the market.
Ranawaka also instructed the Excise Department to determine whether there were liquor producing companies, which had continued to use counterfeit stickers even after getting apprehended for using counterfeit stickers.