Public interest case soon in SC over payments platform

 
Public interest litigation is to be filed in the Supreme Court against the attempt to establish the Sri Lanka National Payments Platform (NPP) developed by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) outside the purview of the Central Bank.
 
Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardena said that he has instructed his lawyers to file a public interest case in the Supreme Court on Thursday (today) afternoon against the Finance Minister for violating the Payment and Settlement Systems Act. 

According to Section 148 of the Constitution the power of monitoring regulating and transacting finances of the country has been vested in the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, he said adding that the attempt to hand over the national payment system to three private firms selected by ITCA is also a violation of the constitution.
 
According to the Central Bank, a nationwide common platform for electronic payments is of great importance in achieving cost-effectiveness in the national payment system through sharing payment infrastructure in the country.

There was also a plan to make technological arrangements for Point of Sale transactions, mobile payments and other electronic retail payments.
 
The Finance Ministry in association with ICTA is duplicating the Central Bank’s LankaClear payment platform which is aimed at clearing cheques and facilitating online payments, legal experts said. (Bandula)