The Finance Ministry has decided to revise the fees charged for annual excise licences. The Ministry stated that the relevant amendments have been made effective from February 1.
The annual distillery licence fee of Rs.25 million has been reduced to Rs.2 million and according to the new fee revision, the fee charged only once for industry entry is Rs.25 million, the Finance Ministry said.
The Ministry states that the annual licence fee of Rs.10 million for bottling coconut toddy has been reduced to Rs.1.5 million, and the licence fee for toddy bottling is Rs.500,000 according to the new amendment.
The vinegar factory fee has been reduced from Rs.2.5 million to Rs.500,000 and the one-time fee has been revised to Rs.2.5 million.
The annual license fee of 12.5 million rupees for Municipal Council areas has been reduced to Rs.800,000 and the annual licence fee for retail sale of alcohol in other areas has been reduced from 10 million rupees to Rs. 600,000.
According to the Excise Ordinance Act, the Finance Ministry has revised the excise licence fee to be effective from January 12, but later decided to revise it again following requests by excise licence holders.
Subashini Senanayake