The Excise Department of Sri Lanka is to make some important changes to the existing liquor licenses system with the view of making license-issuing procedures more systematic and expeditious, a spokesperson for the Department said.

Speaking to media yesterday (29), Commissioner of Excise (Law Enforcement) and Media Spokesperson Kapila Kumarasinghe said that the unsystematic procedure of license issuing would be addressed by these amendments, and it would also include provisions that monitor the number of liquor licenses issued in particular areas in order to minimise the inconvenience caused to people in some areas.

He also noted that these new amendments will focus on introducing new codes of procedures in issuing liquor licenses for hotels and restaurants authorised by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), since current legal barriers have caused delays in issuing these. He said such moves are being taken in order to remove external barriers that hamper tourism development in the country.

“The Excise Department is to introduce new procedures which make the license-issuing process easy for places affiliated with the tourism sector. As we know it is too difficult to get a liquor license under the current system and sometimes it could badly affect the country’s tourism,” he said.

He added that the Department intends to introduce a new payment, which should be made once by the person who intends to get the license, while taking new measures to reduce the expensive license fees. He said that this new procedure will increase Government revenue, since it encourages people to obtain more licenses under a regulated system of procedures.