In the wake of 43,776 liquor bottles taken into custody being confirmed to contain fake security stickers, the Department of Excise said that they do not have any authority to call fresh tenders for a new security feature for liquor bottles.

It was reported recently that the Parliamentary Ways and Means Committee has recommended the Department to call a fresh tender for a new security feature for liquor bottles following widespread issues over the current security sticker supplied by an Indian company.

When queried by The Daily Morning yesterday (11), the Spokesperson of the Department and the Deputy Commissioner of Excise (Law Enforcement) Kapila Kumarasinghe said that the power of calling tenders is vested in the Ministry of Finance. However, he said that the Department is yet to take a decision on whether a new security feature should be introduced or the sticker should be changed.

As per the instructions given by the said Committee, the Department has been carrying out islandwide raids over the past few weeks to take into custody liquor bottles suspected to contain fake security stickers. The scam is believed to have resulted in the loss of millions of rupees in tax revenue to the Department.

According to reports, as of 8 September, 43,776 liquor bottles that were taken into custody have been confirmed to contain fake security stickers and fines amounting to Rs. 43.4 million have been imposed for bottles that have been identified.

Recently, the State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya had told the media that he would propose that the fines be increased up to Rs. 500,000 each for counterfeit revenue stickers found on bottles of liquor. He said that the supposed foolproof sticker had been introduced to prevent the loss of Excise revenue from the sale of counterfeit liquor.

Several attempts made by The Daily Morning to contact Siyambalapitiya in this regard proved futile.