Digitalisation best antidote to corruption in Excise Dept. – Harsha

SJB MP Dr Harsha de Silva has called upon the government to digitalse the Excise Department functions to prevent department officials from engaging in corrupt practices, including skimping collection of taxes from liquor producing companies.

“As of now the companies owe over seven billion rupees to the government. There are irregularities in excise officers collecting these taxes. To prevent these malpractices we have to digitalize the Excise Department’s work,” Dr de Silva said, addressing a seminar organised by the Advocata Institute in Colombo.

Dr de Silva said that Excise Department officers capitalised on the non-upgrading of department functions before the traditional method of collecting taxes where officers personally handle tax collecting. This process should have been digitalised many years back. We found this when questioning Exercise Department officers during sectoral oversight committees by MP Patali Champika Ranawaka and myself. We have found that mega scams are taking place in introducing revenue stickers on liquor bottles. These scams cannot be eradicated without introducing a digital system so that these functions could be monitored by others,” Dr de Silva said.

MP Ranawaka said that two parliamentary oversight committees had ordered a ban on the licences of non-tax paying liquor companies last November. “The excise department cancelled the licences of six companies. Within four days the companies had settled their dues, he said. Then, they again stopped paying taxes in December. State revenue could be boosted only if the Excise officials enforced the existing laws properly,” Ranawaka said.