Sri Lanka’s Supreme Courtroom has ordered the restoration of the beforehand used on-line visa system. File | Picture credit score: Reuters
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Courtroom on August 2 issued an interim order suspending the federal government’s new visa system, run by a consortium together with an Indian firm, which had sparked controversy over corruption allegations totaling greater than $1 billion. The Supreme Courtroom ordered that the beforehand used on-line visa system be reinstated.
In April this yr, the Sri Lankan Immigration and Emigration Division adopted a brand new visa portal, which introduced collectively a consortium of GBS Expertise Companies, IVS International Companies, an organization registered in India, and VFS International. The beforehand used digital journey authorization system, operated by state-owned telecom supplier Mobitel, was deserted, regardless of the famend pace and effectivity of the service. Whereas each GBS Expertise and IVS International Companies work in collaboration with the Indian Ministry of Exterior Affairs to authenticate and course of paperwork for a lot of Indian missions, IVS additionally processes Indian visa purposes from Sri Lankan residents.
Learn additionally: Tourism-dependent Sri Lanka faces backlash over new visa system
Furthermore, the brand new system drastically elevated Sri Lankan visa prices, particularly for vacationers, sparking concern within the island nation’s tourism trade. Representatives of the important thing overseas exchange-earning sector resisted the transfer, arguing that prime prices would negatively affect arrivals, which have been simply starting to expertise an uptick following the pandemic years and the island nation’s financial disaster of 2022. The problem attracted media consideration in Sri Lanka in Might, when a video recording of a Sri Lankan traveler expressing disapproval of “Indians” working the visa-on-arrival counters at Bandaranaike Worldwide Airport went viral.
Subsequently, three opposition MPs, Champika Ranawaka, Rauf Hakeem and M.A. Sumanthiran, filed a petition within the Supreme Courtroom towards Public Safety Minister Tiran Alles and the Ranil Wickremesinghe-led authorities for allegedly “aiding and perpetrating a multi-million greenback rip-off associated to the IVS visa process”. The lawmakers appeared in particular person for the case, by which the three firms are among the many defendants. In his petition, Mr. Sumanthiran argued that “whereas the overseas alternate returns to the Sri Lankan Authorities can be negligible, the chance afforded to the twenty ninth and thirtieth defendants can be insignificant.” [GBS Technology Services & IVS Global – FZCO and VF Worldwide Holdings]The venture will end in an enrichment of roughly 1.4 billion {dollars}.” The Sri Lankan anti-corruption organisation Transparency Worldwide and representatives of the tourism sector have additionally gone to court docket over the matter. The case is because of resume in October.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka should reinstate the previous visa system with rapid impact because of the court docket order. As of the morning of three August, the portal for the brand new system has been suspended. “For now, there is no such thing as a on-line visa obtainable. Guests can solely use the visa on arrival counter at Colombo Airport. It’s in one of the best curiosity of all to reinstate the previous system at once,” stated Nishad Wijetunga, president of the Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Affiliation. The Hindu I tried to contact Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism and the Division of Immigration and Emigration for touch upon August 3, however have but to obtain a response from both of them.
Sri Lanka recorded over 10 lakh vacationer arrivals between January and June this yr, with the sector incomes practically $1.5 billion within the interval, in response to official knowledge.