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Economy & business fact checks
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Liquor buying should be linked with an aadhar card. Subsidy for food items is to be stopped to those who buy liquor. Those who can afford liquor should also be able to buy food items. If we provide them free food items, then they will buy liquor with the money they have – Ratan Tata.
Publisher’s rating: Fake
Lubbers haalde 30 miljard gulden uit pensioenpot; Rutte haalde in 2019 60 miljard euro uit pensioenpot en gaf het aan de EU.
Publisher’s rating: Het kabinet van Lubbers haalde inderdaad minstens dertig milard gulden uit de pensioenpot van het Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds (ABP). Om die reden is het ABP in 1996 geprivatiseerd. Er is geen enkele aanwijzing te vinden dat Rutte daar op één of andere manier toch nog geld heeft weggehaald. Ook is er in 2019 geen zestig, maar zo’n negen miljard euro naar de Europese Unie gegaan.
The claim combines two allegations: that Lubbers’s government took roughly 30 billion guilders from the ABP pension fund, and that Mark Rutte took 60 billion euros from the pension pot in 2019 and gave it to the European Union. The review distinguishes the historical ABP funding shortfall from the later allegation about Rutte, and examines the latter against the ABP’s annual report and Dutch government accounts. For the Lubbers-era allegation, the review cites a 1998 Netherlands Court of Audit report. It says reduced pension contributions by the government in the 1980s created a 32.86-billion-guilder funding shortfall at ABP. It also reports that a 2011 Zembla broadcast disclosed a separate withdrawal by then finance minister Onno Ruding, while noting that its precise amount was never established. The review therefore treats the claim about money taken under Lubbers as supported in broad terms, while distinguishing the documented shortfall from the less certain additional withdrawal. The evidence presented does not show Rutte taking money from ABP. The review says it found no such indication in the ABP annual report, and describes the 2019 pension agreement’s estimated costs as spending on reforms and compensation—not money removed from pension savings. For the EU allegation, it cites the foreign ministry’s 2019 annual report, which recorded more than 9 billion euros in payments, and the Court of Audit’s calculation of an 8.1-billion-euro contribution and a net cost of 5.5 billion after receipts. These figures address the alleged 2019 transfer; the review also distinguishes them from the EU recovery fund agreed in 2020, which it says had no connection to pensions.
D-Mart providing free gifts, as it is celebrating its 20th anniversary
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerned a website offering free gifts in D-Mart’s name, supposedly to mark the company’s 20th anniversary. FACTLY’s review examined that specific offer and reported that the website was fraudulent, rather than an official D-Mart promotion. The review describes two checks behind that conclusion. It compared the offer site’s URL with D-Mart’s official website, identified in the article as www.dmart.in, and reports that the Economic Offences wing of Cyberabad Police had called a similar post fake. According to the review, the police warning characterized the offer as a Ponzi scheme and cautioned that clicking the link could expose personal and financial information to cybercriminals. The anniversary timing also did not support the pitch: the review says D-Mart was founded in 2002, so it would turn 20 in 2022, not in 2021 when the claim was reviewed. It additionally reports that D-Mart had advised customers through Facebook to trust only offers on its official website or D-Mart Ready App. Taken together, the review’s evidence indicates that the anniversary offer was not a genuine D-Mart giveaway.
A website claiming to sell bruhm electronics at a discounted price.
Publisher’s rating: False.
Recruitment drive at Quickmark Supermarket
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
FACT CHECK: තෙල් මිල ඉහල දැමීමකට විරෝධය පෑ ජර්මන් ජනතාව, වාහන මිලියන ගණනක් මහ පාරේ අතහැර දැමුවාද?
Publisher’s rating: False
The claim attached to the circulated photograph was that, after Germany’s government raised fuel prices, people abandoned their cars in cities within an hour, supposedly leaving around a million vehicles behind and forcing the government to reduce prices. The review investigated the photograph presented as evidence for that story, rather than treating the image’s appearance as proof of the claimed German protest. It reports that a reverse-image search traced the image to a traffic jam in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, on September 30, 2012. (S1: “එහි සඳහන්ව තිබුනේ , ‘ජර්මානු රජය විසින් තෙල් මිල වැඩි කළ පසු, පැයක් ඇතුලතදී මිනිසුන් තම වාහන නගරවල අතහැර දමන ලදී.මිලියනයක් පමණ අතහැර දැමූ වාහන නිසා රජය නැවතත් තෙල් මිල පහත දැමූහ.’”; “මෙම ඡායාරූපය ලබාගෙන ඇත්තේ 2012 වසරේ සැප්තැම්බර් 30 වනදා චීනයේ Guangdong පළාතට අයත් Shenzeng නගරයේදී වන බවයි.”) The review describes several checks that support that identification. It says the image search results identified the photograph’s location and date, and that the image was credited to Rex Features. It also examined other photographs of the incident and reports that road signs were in Chinese. The review cites a Telegraph report dated October 1, 2012, which attributed the congestion to Chinese holiday travel: many people were using the highways during the autumn mid-holiday week, while a temporary suspension of highway tolls encouraged travel. The Telegraph account, as summarized in the review, says some people got out of their vehicles while traffic remained stalled. (S1: “මෙම ඡායාරූපයේ හිමිකාරීත්වය ඇත්තේ Rex Features සතුවයි.”; “මෙම සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් පළවූ වෙනත් ඡායාරුප පරීක්ෂා කිරීමේ දී ද අපට දැකගන්නට ලැබෙන්නේ එම මාර්ගයේ මාර්ග සංඥා චීන භාෂාවෙන් පළකර තිබෙනු ද දැක ගන්නට ලැබුණා.”; “Telegraph පුවත්පතේ වෙබ් අඩවියකද මෙම ඡායාරූපය සහිත වාර්තාවක් ඔස්සේ 2012 ඔක්තෝබර් 1 වන දින ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් පවසන්නේ මෙම රථවාහන තදබදය චීනයේදී ඇතිවූවක් වන බවටයි.”) The review further says it found no report of a protest of the kind shown in the image taking place in Germany. It acknowledges that petrol and diesel prices in Germany were controversial at the time, but that does not substantiate the specific story or identify this photograph as German. The evidence instead links the image to a Chinese highway traffic jam in 2012, with holiday travel and toll arrangements given as the explanation—not a German fuel-price protest. (S1: “ජර්මනියේ මේ දිනවල පෙට්රල් සහ ඩීසල් මිල මතභේදාත්මක කරුණක් වී තිබේ.”; “සමාජ ජාලා වල සටහන් වල ඡායාරූපයේ දැක්වෙන ආකාරයේ විරෝධතාවයක් ජර්මන් රාජ්ය තුල වාර්තා වී තිබු ආකාරයක් ද දැක ගන්නට ලැබුනේ නැහැ.”; “ඡායාරූපයේ ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම දැක්වෙන්නේ චීනයේ අධිවේගී මාවතක රථවාහන තදබදයක් (2012 වසරේදී)සිදුවූ අවස්ථාවකි.”)
Banks are now going to charge 173 rupees for every ATM transaction beyond the permissible limit
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerned a social-media post alleging that, after four free ATM transactions, banks would impose a ₹150 tax plus a ₹23 service charge—₹173 total—for each further ATM transaction. The post reportedly said the new rules would take effect on 1 August 2021. The review distinguishes those claims from the Reserve Bank of India’s ATM rules and from cash-transaction charges at certain banks. The review reports that the RBI issued its notification on 10 June 2021, revising ATM interchange fees and customer service charges. It says customers could make five free monthly transactions at their own bank’s ATMs; at other banks’ ATMs, they could make three free transactions in six metro centres and five in non-metro centres. For ATM transactions beyond those limits, banks were allowed to charge ₹21, and the revised guidelines were to take effect on 1 January 2022. The review also says banks were then charging ₹20 beyond the free limit. The ₹150 figure came from a different type of transaction, according to the review: cash transactions, not ATM transactions. It says ICICI allowed four free monthly cash transactions, combining deposits and withdrawals, and then charged ₹150 per additional cash transaction; it reports that HDFC and Axis also charged the same cash-transaction fee. The review states that these banks charged ₹20 for ATM transactions beyond the free limit, not ₹173. Thus the post conflated cash-transaction fees with ATM charges and misrepresented both the ATM fee and the effective date of the RBI rules.
රැපිඩ් අන්ටිජන් පරීක්ෂණ කට්ටල ජෝර්ජ් ස්ටුවට් සමාගම වැඩි මිලකට විකුණුවා ද?
Publisher’s rating: Explainer
The review examined complaints that COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits were being sold at inflated prices in Sri Lanka. A circulated social-media post alleged that a company associated with Dilith Jayawira was importing kits cheaply and making excessive profits. The review then addressed George Steuart Health, identified in its text as an importer, and whether its sales exceeded the authorized price. The social-media allegations and the company under review should not be conflated: the article presents them in the same pricing controversy but discusses them as distinct claims and evidence. [S1]
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is recruiting casual workers
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
FACT CHECK: නව මුදල් ඇමති විසින් ආහාර කිහිපයක් සඳහා නව බදු පැනවුවා ද? Economy
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
It is said that a family can eat peacefully with 27 rupees which is true. Here goes the price list: Tea – Rs.1, Soup – Rs.5.50, Meals – Rs.2, Chapathi – Rs.1, Dosa – Rs.4, Biryani – Rs.8. This cheapest price list is at the canteen for the members of Parliament.
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
കേന്ദ്ര വൈദ്യുതി ബില് പാസ്സായാല് കേരളത്തില് വൈദ്യുതി നിരക്ക് കുറയുമെന്നും അത് പ്രശ്നമാണെന്നും വൈദ്യുതി മന്ത്രി
Publisher’s rating: MISSING CONTEXT
Ratan Tata’s response on why he hasn’t become as rich as Mukesh Ambani
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns a social-media video that appears to show Ratan Tata answering why he had not become as rich as Mukesh Ambani. The video combines visuals from two interviews and attributes to Tata remarks contrasting his role as an industrialist with Ambani’s as a businessman. It also attributes to him a wish for India to be a happy nation rather than an economic superpower. FACTLY reports that it used reverse image searches on screenshots from the video to locate full versions of the interviews on CNBC-TV18 and Stanford Graduate School of Business YouTube channels. Its review of both interviews found no statement comparing Tata’s or the Tata Group’s wealth with Ambani’s or Reliance Group’s. Instead, it says Tata discussed the Tata Group’s service to customers and communities. In the CNBC-TV18 interview, he discussed choices the Tata family could have made to become wealthy rather than establish institutions for the country. The review also provides context for the attributed remarks: it says a statement about wanting India to be a happy country, rather than an economic superpower, was made by J.R.D. Tata, not Ratan Tata. It further notes that Ratan Tata clarified that comments about Ambani’s lifestyle, reported by The Times in London, had been misinterpreted. Taken together, the review’s account of the full interviews does not support the video’s central attribution.
পেট্রোলের ওপর ১৬.৫০ টাকা কর নেয় কেন্দ্র এবং ৩৮.৫০ টাকা কর পায় রাজ্য সরকার।
Publisher’s rating: FALSE





