A Colombo company has been fined Rs. 200,000 after pleading guilty to altering the printed prices on basmati rice packets and to storing expired liquid glucose, the Consumer Affairs Authority said, as reported by the Daily Mirror.
The case was filed by CAA investigating officers against a company on Sirimavo Bandaranaike Mawatha, Colombo 14, before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court No. 5.
What officers found
CAA officers inspected the premises on 24 June 2026 and found 1kg packets of basmati rice and a 20kg pack of liquid glucose being prepared for sale after the original printed prices had been removed and replaced with higher ones.
Over-stickering — covering a manufacturer’s printed price with a higher one — is a violation of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act and the relevant Gazette orders, because the printed price is what the consumer is entitled to rely on. The offence is straightforward to prove and difficult to explain away, which is likely why the company pleaded guilty to it.
The officers separately detected expired stocks of liquid glucose on the premises. Liquid glucose is a bulk ingredient used in confectionery, bakery products and beverages rather than a consumer item, so a 20kg pack held past its shelf life points at the wholesale or manufacturing end of the chain.
The company pleaded guilty to both charges and the court imposed a total fine of Rs. 200,000.
Context
Prosecutions of this kind have become a routine part of the CAA’s caseload as food prices have stayed high, with price-tag manipulation and expired stock the two most common charges. The interval here is worth noting on its own: the inspection took place in late June and the case concluded in mid-September, close to three months later.
The seizure follows other recent enforcement in the Colombo area, including a raid on an unregistered Dehiwala footwear operation over counterfeit labelling reported the same weekend.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not name the company or say what business it is in, give the quantity of rice or glucose involved, or state the difference between the original and substituted prices. It does not say how the two charges were weighted in the Rs. 200,000 total, whether the expired glucose had been sold or only stored, whether the goods were destroyed or released, or whether the company faces any further action. There is no comment from the company.
This report is single-source. A search of NewsFirst, Hiru News, the Island, Daily FT, Colombo Gazette and EconomyNext found no other outlet carrying the case; Ada Derana was unreachable behind a CloudFront block.
