# UPI-LankaQR

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upi-lankaqr
> research date 2026-06-03 · extracted at 2026-10-07
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [PhonePe collaborates with LankaPay to promote UPI payment acceptance in Sri Lanka — PhonePe](https://www.phonepe.com/press/phonepe-collaborates-with-lankapay-to-promote-upi-payment-acceptance-in-sri-lanka/)
- [Launch of PhonePe UPI acceptance — LankaPay](https://www.lankapay.net/en/news/launch-of-phonepe)

## Overview

The **UPI-LankaQR Linkage** lets Indian travellers in Sri Lanka pay merchants by scanning **LankaQR**, Sri Lanka's national QR code standard, using Indian UPI apps <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[4][4]</sup>. UPI acceptance over LankaQR was launched on **12 February 2024** by NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) together with Central Bank of Sri Lanka–owned **LankaPay**, and was extended in May 2024 when **PhonePe** went live as a participating Indian app <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[3][3]</sup><sup>[4][4]</sup>. The corpus documents LankaQR as Sri Lanka's national QR standard (launched 2019, operated by LankaClear/LankaPay under CBSL) and records UPI integration for Indian tourists in 2024 <sup>[Sri Lanka report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LK)</sup>.

## History

UPI services were rolled out in Sri Lanka (and Mauritius) on **12 February 2024** in a virtual ceremony attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth <sup>[4][4]</sup>. On the Indian side **NIPL** partnered with **LankaPay** — the national payment network owned by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka — to provide the tourist payment service <sup>[4][4]</sup>. The scheme aimed to scale quickly, with about **10,000 merchants** expected to accept UPI within weeks of launch and **65,000** projected by the end of March 2024 <sup>[4][4]</sup>.

On **15 May 2024**, **PhonePe** announced a collaboration with **LankaPay** to accept UPI payments at LankaQR merchant points, launched at an event at ITC Ratnadipa, Colombo <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[2][2]</sup>. PhonePe's international payments effort was led by Ritesh Pai (CEO, International Payments) and LankaPay by Channa de Silva (CEO), with backing from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and India's High Commission <sup>[1][1]</sup>.

## Technical specification

**Linkage model.** This is a **merchant-QR acceptance** linkage: an Indian UPI user scans a **LankaQR** code at a Sri Lankan merchant to pay <sup>[1][1]</sup>. The connection is facilitated through LankaPay's partnership with NIPL, which manages international UPI expansion <sup>[1][1]</sup>.

**QR interoperability.** UPI apps are made interoperable with the **LankaQR** national QR network so UPI users can transact against LankaQR merchant codes <sup>[1][1]</sup>. LankaQR is documented in the corpus as Sri Lanka's unified QR standard <sup>[Sri Lanka report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LK)</sup>.

**FX handling.** The Indian user's account is **debited in INR**, with the exchange rate displayed at the time of payment, so the traveller pays without manually calculating currency conversions <sup>[1][1]</sup>.

**Coverage.** At the PhonePe launch, the LankaQR network spanned approximately **400,000 merchants** with **19 local banks and finance companies** participating <sup>[1][1]</sup>. The corpus cites 350,000+ merchant points for UPI acceptance <sup>[Sri Lanka report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LK)</sup>.

## Use cases

- **Tourist merchant payments (inbound to Sri Lanka).** The core use is Indian tourists paying Sri Lankan merchants by scanning LankaQR, debited in INR with no cash or manual currency conversion <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[4][4]</sup>.
- **Diaspora and travel convenience.** It gives Indian travellers a familiar, secure payment method abroad and offers Sri Lankan merchants a cost-effective alternative to card acceptance <sup>[1][1]</sup>.

## Implementations

The Indian side runs through **NIPL** and participating Indian UPI apps, notably **PhonePe** (live from 15 May 2024) <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[3][3]</sup>. The Sri Lankan side is **LankaPay** / the **LankaQR** merchant network, operated under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, with 19 local banks and finance companies participating <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[Sri Lanka report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LK)</sup>. The first LankaQR app in the market was ComBank Q+ <sup>[Sri Lanka report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LK)</sup>.

## Comparison

UPI-LankaQR uses the **merchant-QR acceptance** model — Indian travellers scan a foreign national QR to pay merchants — the same pattern later used for **UPI-KHQR** (Cambodia), and unlike the two-way account-to-account remittance model of **UPI-PayNow** (India–Singapore) <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[4][4]</sup>. It is implemented partly through a **private app partnership** (PhonePe–LankaPay) layered on the NIPL–LankaPay arrangement, rather than a pure central-bank-to-central-bank rail link <sup>[1][1]</sup>. The Sri Lanka rollout was bundled with the simultaneous Mauritius launch, where India also extended **RuPay** card issuance — a card-network angle absent from the LankaQR side <sup>[4][4]</sup>. It is far narrower than the UPI-TIPS euro-area settlement initiative and is a bilateral arrangement rather than a Nexus Global Payments membership <sup>[4][4]</sup>.

## Fun facts

- The Sri Lanka go-live was a **double launch** with Mauritius on the same day (12 February 2024), following UPI's earlier expansion to France <sup>[4][4]</sup>.
- The merchant target was aggressive: from roughly **10,000** merchants within weeks to **65,000** by end of March 2024 <sup>[4][4]</sup>.

## Status

**Live** since 12 February 2024, with PhonePe acceptance added 15 May 2024 <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[3][3]</sup><sup>[4][4]</sup>. The corpus records UPI as integrated for Indian tourists at LankaQR merchants and notes a planned 2025 LankaQR relaunch/expansion <sup>[Sri Lanka report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LK)</sup>.

## Sources

[1] [PhonePe collaborates with LankaPay to promote UPI payment acceptance in Sri Lanka](https://www.phonepe.com/press/phonepe-collaborates-with-lankapay-to-promote-upi-payment-acceptance-in-sri-lanka/) — PhonePe, 2024
[2] [Launch of PhonePe UPI acceptance](https://www.lankapay.net/en/news/launch-of-phonepe) — LankaPay, 2024
[3] [India's PhonePe UPI launched in Sri Lanka](https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/indias-phonepe-upi-launched-in-sri-lanka20240515215248/) — ANI, 2024
[4] [Indian tourists can now make UPI payments in Sri Lanka](https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/business/2024/02/12/fgn67-lanka-india-upi-tourists.html) — The Week / PTI, 2024

[1]: https://www.phonepe.com/press/phonepe-collaborates-with-lankapay-to-promote-upi-payment-acceptance-in-sri-lanka/
[2]: https://www.lankapay.net/en/news/launch-of-phonepe
[3]: https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/indias-phonepe-upi-launched-in-sri-lanka20240515215248/
[4]: https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/business/2024/02/12/fgn67-lanka-india-upi-tourists.html

## Deployments

_No country reports mention this standard by name._

## Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country

- India–Sri Lanka