The Collective of Excise Trade Unions (CETU) urged the Commissioner General of Excise to take strict actions against Excise officers who are responsible for displaying counterfeit revenue stickers on liquor bottles.

Issuing a statement yesterday (31 August), the CETU stated that the Indian company which has been given the tender for these revenue stickers and the group of excise officials who protect that particular company should take the responsibility regarding this issue, adding that they are not satisfied with the progress of the ongoing investigations carried out into the incident.

The CETU said that raids related to liquor bottles with fake safety stickers were carried out from the beginning of August and that the officials investigating about the incident have had to face many problems due to the weaknesses of the Indian company in question and also that, despite the fact that bottles with counterfeit revenue stickers have been taken into custody, the necessary facilities have not been provided by the Excise Department to carry out the investigations related to them promptly.

The Unions claimed that the Indian company which received the tender for manufacturing these revenue stickers, has been revealed to be a company that has committed many irregularities and has been blacklisted in several countries.

However, the Excise Commissioner General Saman Jayasinghe had stated that the licences of manufacturers who sold liquor bottles with these counterfeit revenue stickers have been cancelled and that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has personally instructed him to take actions against the individuals and companies that sold such bottles.

The Excise Department said that around 25,000 bottles of alcohol with counterfeit revenue stickers had been found during island-wide investigations, and that therefore, if Department officials are found to be involved in such activities during the investigations, legal action would be taken against them.