News

Call fresh tenders for security features on liquor bottles: House committee

Published

1 week ago

September 17, 2023

editor

The Parliamentary Ways and Means Committee has recommended that the Excise Department 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.

The Committee, which presented its first report to Parliament this week, identified many issues related to the implementation of the security feature, Committee Chairman Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Sunday Times. “The security sticker is supposed to be foolproof but we found that it has been widely forged,” he said.

The Indian company, Madras Security Printers (MSP), won the contract in 2018 to supply security stickers to be printed on liquor bottles.

Acting on instructions from the Ways and Means Committee, the Excise Department has been carrying out island-wide 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 Excise Department.

As of Friday (8), 43,776 liquor bottles that were taken into custody have been confirmed to contain fake security stickers. Fines amounting to Rs. 43.4 million have been imposed for bottles that have been identified, Excise Commissioner Kapila Kumarasinghe told the Sunday Times.

The fine consists of compounding fees, defaulted excise charges and late fees.

Tests are continuing to identify whether other bottles taken into custody from the market also contain fake security stickers.

The vast majority of liquor bottles found with fake security stickers were 180ml bottles, according to officials.

The cost of a genuine security sticker is Rs. 1.80. The tax revenue that is lost to the government through a fake security sticker however, is Rs. 2,900 each for a large 750ml liquor bottle, Mr. Ranawaka said.

He noted that the Ways and Means Committee had identified several other shortcomings in the usage of the security sticker. The primary concern was that there was no homogenous identification system for all 23 liquor manufacturing companies. Four companies, including two that account for 73% of the liquor market share, are using a digital image feature while others are using the security sticker. The companies using the digital feature have argued that pasting security stickers is not practical for them due to their speedy production process. Accordingly, Cabinet approval had been granted in 2021 enabling the usage of either a paper-based foolproof sticker or digital image print in the liquor bottles.

The Committee, however, has recommended that the Excise Department take measures to include all liquor manufacturers in the system of using the security tax stamp.

The current security sticker system is also not customer-friendly, with only Excise Department officials having the technology to identify genuine stickers from fake ones. As such, the Committee has recommended the introduction of a mobile application with QR-based technology to enable customers to easily identify fake security stickers. Accordingly, a customer must be able to scan the QR code on the security sticker to verify whether the product they are purchasing is genuine or not.

Given the issues regarding delays in tax collection, the Committee has also called for the introduction of an automatic taxation system enabling immediate tax collection after the completion of the production process.

“We have made our recommendations (to call for a fresh tender). The decision is up to the Finance Ministry. If it does not call a fresh tender in line with the recommendations we have made, it will have to explain to us why,” said Mr. Ranawaka.

Meanwhile, the Ways and Means Committee has further recommended that the government expedite the establishment of an Integrated Revenue Management System (IRMS) which links different government agencies including the Excise Department.

Attempts to contact Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitya proved futile.

(sundaytimes.lk)

News

Samurdhi Dept. told to conduct survey to identify poverty-stricken families

Published

60 mins ago

September 26, 2023

editor

The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Alleviating the Impact of the Economic Crisis has instructed the Department of Samurdhi Development to conduct a quick survey to identify other poverty-stricken families who need to be empowered.

This was taken into discussion when the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Alleviating the Impact of the Economic Crisis met in Parliament on Sep. 19 chaired by MP Gamini Waleboda Member of Parliament.

Commenting further, the Member of Parliament stated to the officials of the Department of Samurdhi Development to appoint a Committee together with the Ministry of Finance, the Welfare Benefits Board and the Department of Census and Statistics to take the necessary measures.

The discussion was held with the aim of reviewing the goals of the Department of Samurdhi Development to reduce the impact of the economic crisis and the current plans to achieve those goals in the year 2024.

The officials of the Department of Samurdhi Development, who presented the facts, mentioned that at present there are more than sixteen hundred thousand Samurdhi beneficiary families. Accordingly, the department has planned to empower forty-one hundred thousand families in the two years from 2024 to 2026.

The Chair reminded the officials that the responsibility of empowering all families who are affected by the economic crisis and those who are not is entrusted to the Department of Samurdhi Development. The Committee also ordered the Department of Samurdhi Development to immediately prepare a plan to eradicate poverty within the next five years.

The Leader of the Opposition – Sajith Premadasa, addressing the Committee, pointed out the dire need to first establish technical definitions to identify poverty.

The Committee also discussed about the proposed number of new employees in the department, which has been presented in relation to the future plans of the Department of Samurdhi Development. The Committee Chair pointed out that the sacrifices made by the officers of the Department of Samurdhi Development Department during the Covid pandemic cannot be forgotten. The Chair instructed the officials of the Management Services Department to take into consideration the work done by them in the past while approving the proposed number of new employees. Accordingly, the Committee ordered the Management Services Department to come to a final decision about the proposed staff of the Samurdhi Development Department within two weeks and to approve it.

The Committee also discussed the people who have not yet received their pension due to the retired officials of the Samurdhi Development Department and the related reasons. The Chair asked the officials of the Department of Pensions to arrange for the payment of the basic pension to the employees who have not yet received their pension.

News

Inland Revenue Act to be amended

Published

1 hour ago

September 26, 2023

editor

The Cabinet has approved a proposal to amend the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017, the Government Information Department said.

It has been proposed that it is appropriate to amend the Inland Revenue tax to enable to request tax relief by any charity establishment that provides health facilities to children with disabilities in the society joined hands with government health services / education system and that is established as a legitimate institution prioritizing the well–being of the differently-abled children in society while being established as a legitimate institution or registered under any law enforced for registering social services organizations.

Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the resolution prepared by the acting Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to direct the Legal Draftsman to draft a Bill to amend the Inland Revenue Act including legal provisions.

News

National Debt Management Institute to be established

Published

1 hour ago

September 26, 2023

editor

The Cabinet has granted approval to establish a National Debt Management Institute.

It has been emphasized in the supplementary Budget of 2022 the importance of the establishment of a State Loan Management Institute as an institutional reformation while enhancing loan management and transparency has been recognized as a prioritized sector even under the appropriation loan facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Government said that technical assistance has been rendered by the IMF and the World Bank in order to establish the proposed state loan management institute.

The loan management reformation plan, loan management institutional framework and legal framework have been planned by now.

Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the resolution tabled by the acting Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to direct the Legal Draftsman to draft the Bill of the State Loan Management Act.