Finance State Minister Dr. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told Parliament yesterday that it has been confirmed that 43,776 bottles of liquor were caught with fake security stickers and the rest of the bottles have been forwarded to the Government Analyst’s Department to identify them. A fine of Rs.52 million has been imposed on those who were caught with bottles of liquor with fake security stickers so far, and that steps would be taken to cancel their permits if the fines were not paid by 12 noon yesterday. Last week, alone Excise officials seized over 100,000 bottles of liquor with counterfeit stickers,” he said.
The State Minister stated this replying to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa under Standing Orders 27/2.
He further stated that a licence of an liquor outlet can be revoked in accordance with the Excise Notification No. 902 if any case of public protest. The Minister also said that if the existing criteria are not up to date, they need to be updated. He said that 4,570 licences have been issued for the sale of liquor across the country and these licences have been given under 25 categories.
He said that 538 licences for selling soft liquor have been issued recently. He said that the Government does not promote liquor under any circumstances and that is why 75 percent tax has been imposed on them. He added that attention has also been focused on restricting liquor licences to tourist areas.