2023-12-12
News Categories : Committee News
The Committee on Ways and Means of the Parliament directed the officials of Excise Department to suspend the liquor production license of the liquor manufacturing company that has not paid the due tax installment on 04.12.2023 according to the installment plan to pay the arrears of excise duty.
Furthermore, the committee asked why the relevant report was not provided by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) as per the order made by the committee on 24.07.2023 to provide a list of tax payers whose taxes are 100 million rupees or more in arrears as of June 30, 2023. The related report was requested from the IRD in two sessions of the committee meetings, but so far it has not been received, the committee chair said. The IRD officials stated that they have sought the opinion of the Attorney General in that regard and the committee ordered the officials to provide the list to the committee before December 31 2023.
The Committee expressed its displeasure regarding not providing reports related to some of the recommendations given in relation to the Inland Revenue Department, asking for time, and not implementing the recommendations.
This was discussed when the Committee on Ways and Means met recently (06) under the chairmanship of Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka.
The government had banned the import of wheat flour for companies other than Prima and Serendib, the main wheat importing companies, and during the ban, these two companies had accumulated large stocks of flour, and the committee emphasized that these companies have made a considerable profit by imposing a tax of Rs. 16/- per kg on wheat flour after the ban was lifted.
Furthermore, it was also discussed that by increasing the special commodity tax for sugar from 25 cents to 50 rupees, the relevant companies have earned a considerable amount of unfair profit by releasing nearly 8500 tons of sugar that had been imported and stored in the market. Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017, the committee again directed to take immediate steps to collect the prescribed tax related to the improper profit thus earned from the relevant parties in the above 3 cases.
In order to recover the arrears of the taxpayers who are evading taxes, the committee advised to prepare a tax collection plan to recover the amount of 173 billion rupees in collectable taxes. The Chairman of the Committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Department should prepare this together and implement it before December 31.
Among the 39 recommendations made to the Excise Department, the committee questioned why the recommendation of the committee to increase the license renewal fee to a minimum of 10 million rupees has not been implemented so far. Also, the committee questioned the fact that although the committee had ordered to provide the committee with a list of individuals and companies in possession of more than one liquor license in one district, that order had not been implemented. The officials of the Excise Department stated that according to the data system of the Excise Department, it shows that there are no individuals and companies in possession of more than one liquor license in a district, and the Committee directed the Excise Department to inform the Committee in writing.
Furthermore, the Excise Department stated that there are currently 46 toddy production plants and a mobile app has been introduced as per the order made by the committee to prepare a system to monitor the 46 production plants on a daily basis and to calculate their daily production. The committee chair instructed the officers to present the mobile app to the committee.
Emphasizing the need to add artificial intelligence (AI) to scanners in the customs technical system, the chairman of the committee advised the officials to prepare a proposal for this under a public private joint project model under the guidance of IT consultants with the Ministry of Finance.
A follow-up on Disaster Management, Welfare Benefit Scheme and Social Services Department's survey involving urban beggars was also discussed in the Committee on Ways and Means.
Officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defense, Inland Revenue Department, Excise Department, Sri Lanka Customs, Welfare Benefits Board were summoned for this committee. Members of Parliament Hon. Ashok Abeysinghe, Hon. Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Hon. Ishaq Rahman and Hon. Sudath Manjula were also present.
2026-07-22
The draft Terms of Reference (ToR) prepared for the Parliamentary Caucus for Open Parliament Initiative was approved recently at a meeting held in Parliament with the participation of Parliament's development partner organizations.The approval was granted during a meeting of the Caucus chaired by its Co-Chair, Hon. Member of Parliament Shanakkiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam.The draft Terms of Reference was developed based on proposals and recommendations received during a workshop organized by the Caucus in recent months to gather stakeholder input for its preparation.The meeting also agreed that, following the approval of the Terms of Reference, the document would be submitted to Hon. President, and that a discussion would be held with the President on behalf of the Caucus.
2026-07-22
The Sub-Committee appointed by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) focused its attention on the methodology, implementation timeline and coordination arrangements relating to the research study proposed for the restructuring of the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE), when it met recently, at Parliament under the Chairmanship of Hon. Member of Parliament Ruwan Mapalagama.During the meeting, discussions were held on the establishment of the proposed Institutional Operations Committee and a six-member Coordination Team to facilitate the implementation of the research. Attention was also focused on the proposed Mixed-Methods Design, the preparation of questionnaires and the data collection process.The Sub-Committee further reviewed the progress of obtaining public views on the restructuring of SLIATE. Matters relating to obtaining the contribution of the Human Resources and Management Information Systems (MIS) divisions for the research, the preparation of the research implementation timeline through a Gantt Chart, and the stakeholder consultations to be held with representatives of the industry sector were also considered.The programme to obtain the views of stakeholders, including Chambers of Commerce, industry associations and professional bodies, as well as the conduct of field visits to selected SLIATE institutions across the country, was also discussed.The Sub-Committee decided to proceed with the future activities of the research in accordance with the agreed timeline and to present the relevant progress reports at its next meeting.Hon. Member of Parliament Lieutenant Commander (Retired) Prageeth Madhuranga also attended the meeting.
2026-07-22
The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) focused its attention on referring the matters revealed in relation to land misuse, financial irregularities and administrative deficiencies at the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for a formal investigation.The matter was taken up when the Committee met recently at Parliament under the Chairmanship of Hon. Member of Parliament (Dr.) Nishantha Samaraweera to continue its examination of the Auditor General's Reports for the years 2022 and 2023 and to consider the remaining matters relating to the current performance of the National Housing Development Authority.During the meeting, lengthy discussions were held regarding the leasing of valuable NHDA-owned lands located at Maligawatta, Elvitigala Mawatha and Rangirigama, Dambulla to external parties at low nominal values without Cabinet approval, the use of such lands for purposes contrary to the conditions stipulated in the relevant agreements, and the failure to adequately safeguard the Authority's assets.The Committee observed that many of these transactions had been carried out in contravention of the objectives of the National Housing Development Authority and the relevant legal provisions. Accordingly, the Committee recommended that comprehensive reports on the identified irregularities be referred to the Criminal Investigation Department and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption for the institution of appropriate legal action.The Committee also instructed the officials to expedite internal audit investigations into these matters, identify the officers responsible and initiate disciplinary action against them. Furthermore, the Committee recommended that the necessary measures be taken to strengthen asset management and internal control systems in order to prevent the recurrence of such irregularities in the future.The meeting was attended by Hon. Members of Parliament Attorney-at-Law Dayasiri Jayasekara, S.M. Marikkar, Attorney-at-Law Sujeewa Senasinghe, Mujibur Rahman, Chaminda Wijesiri, Dr. S. Sri Bavanandarajah, Sunil Rajapaksha, Thilina Samarakoon, Chandima Hettiarachchi, Asitha Niroshana Egodavithana, Ruwan Mapalagama, Jagath Manuwarna, Dinesh Hemantha, M.K.M. Aslam and Sudath Balagalla.
2026-07-21
Discussions focus on strengthening disability-inclusive legislation and policy implementationThe Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities held discussions with the United Nations Resident Coordinator and representatives of several United Nations agencies at Parliament with a view to strengthening cooperation in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and advancing disability-inclusive legislation and policies in Sri Lanka.The meeting was held in Parliament under the Chairmanship of the Chair of the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities, Hon. Member of Parliament Sugath Wasantha de Silva recently.Addressing the meeting, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Marc-André Franche, commended the Parliament for establishing the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities and emphasized the importance of treating disability inclusion as a national priority across all sectors. He reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations to provide technical expertise and institutional support in areas including legislative reforms, accessibility, inclusive education, employment, community-based rehabilitation and strengthening national coordination.The UNICEF Representative, Ms. Begoña Arellano, highlighted the need to safeguard the rights of children with disabilities, particularly in relation to health, nutrition and education, while emphasizing the important oversight role of Parliament in ensuring the effective implementation of disability-inclusive policies.Representatives of UNFPA, UNDP, ILO and UN Volunteers also briefed the Caucus on ongoing initiatives relating to youth, education, disability data collection, employment opportunities and social inclusion.During the meeting, the Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment, Hon. (Dr.) Upali Pannilage, informed the Caucus that the proposed Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill and the Sign Language Bill are currently with the Attorney General's Department and are expected to be presented to Parliament on September 2026. He further stated that measures are underway to improve accessibility in public institutions, expand employment opportunities, introduce educational grants for university students with disabilities and establish ten day-care centres for children with disabilities within this year.The Caucus also discussed future initiatives, including the preparation of disability-inclusive budget proposals by Government Ministries, the finalisation of a national disability database and the conduct of a sensitisation programme for journalists to promote a rights-based approach to disability related reporting.The meeting concluded with the Chair, Hon. Sugath Wasantha de Silva, reiterating the Caucus's core theme, "An unhindered social life," and calling for continued, unified collaboration to make an inclusive society a reality.The meeting was attended by the Deputy Co-Chairs of the Caucus, Hon. Gayantha Karunathilleka, and Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam, the Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment, Hon. (Dr.) Upali Pannilage, Members of Parliament and representatives of the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, ILO and UN Volunteers.
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