Chief Executive Officer Lanka Clear Channa De Silva said that Sri Lankan Electronic signatures would be globally recognized.
De Silva was speaking to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on May 13.
De Silva said on issues of cross border transactions the Sri Lankan root key was now recognized. Service providers within Sri Lanka can now work under that framework for digital signatures. The mutual recognition of electronic signatures is facilitated in part through the signing of trade agreements. Channa De Silva noted that the government had begun accepting digital documents. De Silva said it had already begun in a segment of the government as a pilot project.
The Electronic Transactions Act of Sri Lanka has a cross-cutting legal effect so other laws do not have to be changed for digitally-enabled documents to be valid in law. Director CERT Jayantha Fernando said, “notwithstanding anything required the digital transaction act recognizes the digital equivalent.”
Trade Facilitation Committee Member Dinesh De Silva said that recognition of digital signatures was integral for the fulfillment of the World Trade Organisation Regulation.
The National Single Window is based on electronic signatures. De Silva called on the President under the guidance of the Ministry of Telecommunications to give direction on the issue. Channa De Silva noted that mobile payment systems implemented locally only charge the merchant .5% in comparison to credit card machines which charge 3 percent.
De Silva said that the low penetration of digital payment services in the economy is due to the widespread availability of cash.
Panelists noted that the Central Bank did not require physical verification alongside National Identification for the opening of accounts so long as the bank undertook the risk based on verification. The Department of Registration of Persons is working on a server system to be online shortly that will streamline the verification of individuals. Vice-Chairman Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka Professor Gihan Dias said that digital signatures are less likely to be forged than their non-digital counterparts. Chief Executive Officer SDB Thilak Piyadigama said that systems would be implemented in the coming months with the likes of courier services like PickMe for the facilitation of banking services.
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