The Excise Department says that the government has lost Rs.27 billion (27 billion) in excise revenue in the year 2021 alone due to the Covid epidemic in the country.
Although the expected revenue of the Excise Department this year is 160 billion rupees, it is difficult to achieve it in the current situation, says the Director General of Excise.
Director General M.J. Gunasiri stated this at the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) meeting held on October 22.
The Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Prof. Tissa Vitarana met on that day to inquire into the Auditor General’s Report for the year 2019 and the current performance of the Excise Department, the Communications Department of the Parliament of Sri Lanka said.
Although the Excise Department, the Customs Department and the Inland Revenue Department had made recommendations at a COPA Committee meeting in 2019 to set up an interconnected computer system, the Committee has discussed at length that it has not yet been implemented.
The Department of Communications of the Parliament of Sri Lanka further stated that the Committee also emphasized the need to implement a computer software system to correct the excise revenue calculation process of the Department and that the project has been implemented properly despite the allocation of funds from the Budget and Supplements for the year 2016 to 2018. The absence was also noted.
The Director General of Excise has informed the committee that work has commenced to install a computer system.
The committee has directed the Director General of Excise to submit the time frame for the installation of the computer system to the COPA Committee before November 5 with a definite plan.
Delays in the provision of safety stickers for liquor bottles and liquor related products and the delay in setting up a security sticker management system to increase government revenue were also discussed at the meeting.
State Ministers Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Prasanna Ranaweera and MPs Tissa Attanayake, Ashok Abeysinghe, Dr. Upul Galappaththi, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Faisal Qasim and BYG. Ratnasekera is also the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. Attygalle and a group of Excise Department officials were also present at the occasion.
