Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-07-12

Establishment of a National Payment Platform for Digital Commerce and easing of Digital Transactions

- Presently, the most convenient way adopted in the payment for goods and services by the public is the use of international credit cards such as VISA Master Card, and American Express. However, the adoption of such cards in Sri Lanka is still at a relatively low ebb due to various reasons including the charges levied in such transactions. When the value of a transaction is high, the charges levied by the relevant card scheme also rise, and the government institutions including Sri Lanka Customs, Department of Inland Revenue, Excise Department as well as the other businessmen are reluctant to use such cards. As proposed by the Committee comprising of veteran senior officials in the relevant fields who studied the recommendations made by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in this regard, the proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, the Minister of Finance, for the establishment of a National Payment Platform as a methodology for the facilitation of digital commerce and online transactions for the Government Institutions of Sri Lanka, enterprises and citizens, was approved by the Cabinet.