• To include schools, LG authorities, district secretariats, divisional secretariats
• School project to be launched within 2 weeks

The Government is set to expand the range of institutions covered under its GovPay digital payment platform to include schools, Local Government (LG) authorities, district secretariats, and divisional secretariats across the island.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Ministry of Digital Economy Secretary Waruna Sri Dhanapala revealed that plans were underway to link schools to the GovPay digital platform to allow parents to make all relevant payments through the platform.

“We want to introduce this at the school level, enabling parents to make the relevant payments through the system,” he stated.

Dhanapala further said that his ministry had been in touch with the Ministry of Education to implement the project, which he expected to be launched within two weeks.

He added that the ministry also planned to bring all LG authorities and divisional secretariats onto the digital payment platform.

“Some LGs have already adopted it. Some districts have already been covered, especially in the north,” he stated.

Dhanapala added that the ministry had recently invited all divisional secretaries and district secretaries to get on board with the digital payment platform at the recent monthly district secretaries’ meeting held by the Ministry of Public Administration.

Accordingly, he revealed that a common agreement had been reached under which the ministry would assist them with the basic technology and the implementation of the system.

He explained that this assistance was necessary owing to the need to tally several accounts, as divisional secretariats functioned not only under the Ministry of Public Administration but also served under multiple other agencies, such as the Department of Motor Traffic and Samurdhi, requiring the backend accounting system to be streamlined.

The Secretary also revealed that the Department of Posts had indicated its willingness to join the GovPay platform.

GovPay is a Government digital payment platform implemented by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) together with LankaPay under the guidance of the Ministry of Digital Economy, enabling citizens to pay for Government services through banks and fintech applications.

According to the GovPay website, the digital platform has recorded more than Rs. 4.7 billion in transactions to date, having collected its first Rs. 1 billion within just 45 days. Since its launch on 7 February 2025, the platform has handled over 408,000 transactions, enabling citizens to pay for 4,413 Government services offered by 300 Government institutions.

Its Online Traffic Fine Payment System, or GovPay Spot Fine, officially commenced its rollout in August 2025, beginning with the Western Province, following a pilot programme launched in April 2025 using 40 devices. 

The solution was subsequently implemented in phases across the country and, within six months, extended to all nine provinces by February this year, achieving complete islandwide coverage for digital traffic fine collection. 

To date, the system has been implemented across 678 Police stations, with more than 4,100 mobile devices distributed to Traffic Police officers nationwide, having facilitated over 89,000 digital traffic fine payments and generated more than Rs. 115 million in revenue.