Siyambalapitiya proposes heavy fines for counterfeit stickers

State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has said that he will propose that fines be increased up to Rs 500,000 each for counterfeit revenue stickers found on bottles of liquor.

Speaking at a rally in Ruwanwella on Saturday, the State Minister of Finance said that the supposed fool-proof sticker had been introduced to prevent the loss of excise revenue from the sale of counterfeit liquor.

“It was very successful initially; the excise revenue rose by 20 to 21 percent. Soon after the proliferation of counterfeit stickers the excise revenue dropped drastically. Although we have increased the number of raids and continue to deploy excise officials in search of bottles of liquor with counterfeit stickers, much more remains to be done to tackle this problem. Last week, alone the excise officials seized over 100,000 bottles of liquor with counterfeit stickers,” the State Minister said.State Minister Siyambalapitiya said he welcomed the proposal that the licences of errant liquor manufacturers and dealers be cancelled.