Central Bank of Sri Lanka recently released Rules that make it obligatory for hotels
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka recently released Rules that make it obligatory for hotels and service suppliers to allow payment by residents of countries other than Sri Lanka, only in foreign currency.
This Rules appear in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2263/41 of 21 January 2022.
As per the publication of the Rules the hotel service companies that are registered with an authority licensed by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority must comply with the following requirements:
Accept payment for services that are provided to people within Sri Lanka only in foreign exchange.You can deposit the foreign currency in the Business Foreign Currency Account that is maintained by the hotel service supplier or sell to an authorized bank within three days.
Credit payments to the Business foreign currency Account from the hotels service provider in the event that a person living outside Sri Lanka makes payments using an Electronic Fund Transfer Card (Credit Card Debit Card or Travel Card and so on. ).
In addition hotels service providers can accept payment made in Sri Lanka Rupees from persons who reside out of Sri Lanka provided they submit original documents to show that the Sri Lanka Rupees represent the foreign currency that was brought to Sri Lanka and converted through a bank that is licensed or an authorized money exchanger.
