Sri Lanka’s Parliament passed the Digital Governance and Public Services Bill with a majority of 127 votes, despite vocal opposition from several parties who raised concerns about data privacy and the estimated Rs. 48 billion implementation cost.
What the Bill Covers
The legislation mandates the digitization of over 200 government services within three years, including land registry, business registration, and citizen identification systems.
Key provisions include the establishment of a National Digital Authority, mandatory digital literacy training for government employees, and the creation of a unified citizen portal.
Opposition Concerns
Opposition members argued that the bill lacks adequate data protection mechanisms and could lead to surveillance overreach. Several amendments proposed by the opposition were rejected during the committee stage.
“We support digitization but not at the cost of citizen privacy,” said the opposition leader during the debate.
Implementation Timeline
The government expects to roll out the first phase of digital services by January 2027, starting with the most frequently accessed services such as birth certificate issuance and vehicle registration.