The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has secured court fines against several retail outlets across six districts after raids on April 24 found rice and bottled drinking water being sold above the Maximum Retail Price, Ada Derana reported.
The emergency raids targeted outlets in Kandy, Trincomalee, Galle, Tangalle, Girandurukotte and Haputale. CAA officers found Keeri Samba and other rice varieties priced above the prescribed limits and initiated legal proceedings against the business owners.
Following court hearings, fines of Rs. 100,000 each were imposed on one trader from Trincomalee, two from Galle, two from Tangalle and one from Girandurukotte. A retail outlet owner in Haputale was fined Rs. 500,000.
Newswire confirmed the Galle fines, reporting that the two traders apprehended in Galle were each fined Rs. 100,000 — Rs. 200,000 in total — as part of the CAA’s “continuous island-wide campaign to curb illegal practices that inconvenience consumers.”
In a separate operation targeting bottled drinking water, the CAA conducted surprise inspections on two businesses selling bottled water above MRP. The court imposed a fine of Rs. 1,000,000 on a businessman in Haputale and Rs. 100,000 on a trader in Anuradhapura.
The action extends a post-Avurudu enforcement wave the authority launched after festive-season raids in Kegalle and Dambulla in early April. Keeri Samba — Sri Lanka’s most-consumed premium rice variety — has been the most frequent target of overpricing complaints in 2026.
Sources: Ada Derana, Newswire.
