Online visa income tops Rs 70 m

Lanka Gate IPG major attraction:

Indunil HEWAGE

Sri Lanka’s first government sector IT payment gate ,Lanka Gate Internet Payment Gateway (IPG) which is created by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has become a major attraction among foreign nationals who intend to obtain Sri Lanka visas online.

ICTA Communications Head Athula Pushpakumara said, “From the beginning of this year it has been made obligatory for all tourists to Sri Lanka to obtain their visas online.

“We see that IPG users are increasing every day. Over 3,000 foreign nationals are making online visa payments via IPG per day. Over 24,000 tourists have so far made online visa payments through the IPG within the first eight days alone since it became operational from January 1,” he said.

In addition, in the future, payments for all government services would be made via the Lanka Gate Internet Payment Gateway. A Sri Lankan will be entitled to obtain online government citizen services through this which is to be introduced in April by ICTA. Customers will have the opportunity to get the services pertaining to their passports, identity cards and other requirements by paying through the above system and it facilitates payments through credit and debit cards as well.

It was also said that Sri Lanka earned an income of Rs 70 million by issuing of visa within 10 days.