CBSL issues guidelines on accepting payments from tourists/non-SL residents

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) issued to tourism service providers today the set of guidelines to follow when transacting with tourists and non-residents of Sri Lanka.

The Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, in a statement to the media, highlighted that tourism service providers registered with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) are required to adhere to the three mandated guidelines.

Under the rules published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2263/41 dated 21 January 2022, the service providers are required to:

1. Accept payments for services rendered to persons resident outside Sri Lanka only in foreign exchange.
2. Deposit such foreign currency into a Business Foreign Currency Account of the hotel service provider or sell to a licensed bank within three business days
3. Credit payments into a Business Foreign Currency Account of the hotel service provider, in the event such person resident outside Sri Lanka makes payments using an Electronic Fund Transfer Card (Credit Card, Debit Card, Travel Card, etc.).

Hotel service providers may also accept payments in Sri Lanka Rupees from persons who are residents outside Sri Lanka. This is provided they submit original documentary evidence to prove that such Sri Lanka Rupees represent the foreign currency brought into Sri Lanka and converted through a licensed bank or an authorized money changer.