News

Online sale of alcohol not approved

17 Jun, 2021

By Vyshnavy Velrajh

The online sale of alcohol will not be permitted, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said.

He said that the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPC) will not permit the online sale of alcohol during the islandwide travel restriction currently imposed in the country.

General Silva told Colombo Gazette that as the sale of alcohol will be enabled via online delivery services, it will benefit only one segment of the community and not the entire population.

He further pointed out that the Poson festival falls next week, during which the sale of alcohol is anyway prohibited.?

Stating that therefore it was pointless to enable the online sale of alcohol for just a few days, the Army Commander said it was decided not to approve the request.?

The Excise Department yesterday said the Finance Ministry has given the approval to sell alcohol online.

The Department said, however, the approval of the NOCPC will be required to enable the online sale of alcohol.?

The Excise Department had banned the sale of alcohol in line with the islandwide travel restrictions that were imposed on the 21st of May due to a surge in Covid cases as a result of the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Excise Department, the ban imposed on the sale of alcohol will remain in place until the travel ban is lifted.

The current travel ban has been extended twice and is expected to be relaxed on the 21st of June. (Colombo Gazette)

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