The Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government says the digitalisation of public payment services has been completed in 130 local government institutions through the GovPay platform.
Deputy Minister Ruwan Senarath said arrangements are underway to introduce GovPay to all remaining local government institutions by June, NewsFirst reported.
GovPay is the central government’s digital payment gateway designed to allow citizens to pay fees, licences and statutory charges to public sector institutions through mobile and online channels rather than physical counters. The municipal councils, urban councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas onboarded under the current rollout cover much of the citizen-facing transaction load handled by Sri Lanka’s local government tier.
The completion of the 130-institution batch is the largest single onboarding milestone for GovPay since the platform was expanded under the NPP government’s digital governance push. The June target — if met — would extend full coverage across all local councils, removing one of the longest-standing pain points in the citizen-state interface where rates, business permits and trade licences have historically been paid in cash at council offices.
The rollout dovetails with separate digital payment efforts in the wider economy, including the LankaQR merchant fee waiver and bank-led push that the President convened earlier this year, and the recent expansion of cashless ticketing on the bus network.
