Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Finance has stated that steps will be taken to resolve the issues due to outdated excise laws when obtaining licenses.
The Minister had confirmed this during a discussion with the Hotel Owners’ Association, the Department of Government Information said.
The Excise Department has raided a few hotels in the Ella area for selling liquor without a license.
The hotel owners have stated that the raid was carried out causing inconvenience to tourists and businessmen.
However, in the discussions held between the authorities after the raid, the hotel owners had emphasized the inability to obtain licenses due to outdated excise law issues and the opening time issues.
Due to not having a renewed licensing system suitable for the tourism industry, the association continues to point out the inconvenience caused for those involved in the tourism industry, including hotel owners who earn about $ 3 billion a year.
The Commissioner of Excise has informed that the procedure for obtaining excise licenses will be trouble-free and a new licensing system will be introduced.
The hotel owners said that around 5,000 companies across Sri Lanka could further expand their businesses by issuing special licenses to boost tourism, a major source of foreign exchange earnings for the government, which has been hit hard by the Covid epidemic.
