Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka has taken action, urging the Excise Department to swiftly develop a new application to detect alcohol bottles with counterfeit safety stickers. The decision came after a recent observation visit to the department. Joining this initiative were Members of Parliament Harsha de Silva and Gamini Valeboda.

During the visit, it was revealed that the department lacks a mechanism to identify fake stickers, raising concerns about the authenticity of alcohol products in the market. Furthermore, the department attributed the decline in alcohol revenue to various factors, including recent tax increases in the budget.

To address these issues, the parliamentary committee stressed the importance of calculating the elasticity of demand before implementing price hikes and recommended conducting appropriate surveys and providing clear instructions to the Ministry of Finance when increasing alcohol taxes.

The committee also demanded a comprehensive report from the Excise Department regarding the raw materials, particularly rice, used in alcohol production. Additionally, the committee emphasized the necessity of establishing a mechanism under the control of the Excise Commissioner General to monitor alcohol production and distribution in the country directly.