Indian travellers to Sri Lanka can now enjoy a 20% discount on local journeys paid via UPI, as PickMe integrates international mobile payments to enhance cross-border tourism experiences amid rising Indian visitor numbers.
Indian travellers heading to Sri Lanka can now make local journeys a little cheaper, with PickMe offering a 20% discount on eligible rides paid for through UPI. The move, announced by NPCI International Payments Ltd, is aimed at cutting the need for cash and making airport transfers, hotel runs and sightseeing trips simpler for visitors from India.
The discount is capped at LKR 750 on a single ride, according to the announcement. PickMe, which describes itself as Sri Lanka’s leading ride-hailing platform, operates across major cities and tourist destinations and offers tuk-tuks, cars and vans through its app. That means the offer is not limited to airport journeys but can also apply to day-to-day travel within the country.
To use the service, eligible Indian customers need to activate UPI Global or UPI International in their bank’s UPI-enabled app before travelling. Once enabled, they can pay supported merchants abroad directly from a linked Indian bank account, with the transaction processed in local currency while the debit is made in India. Travellers are being advised to check in advance whether their bank and app support international UPI payments, and to confirm any charges or exchange rates that may apply.
PickMe has already been linked with UPI-based QR payments for Indian tourists through a partnership with PhonePe, which was announced in June 2024. That made PickMe one of the first ride-hailing platforms in Sri Lanka to accept such payments from Indian visitors, with the service designed to ease the strain of managing foreign currency. According to the company’s own material, the platform’s wider network also supports cashless payments, fare estimates and live driver tracking.
The latest offer lands at a time when India remains Sri Lanka’s biggest source market for tourism. NPCI International said more than 531,000 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2025, underlining the scale of cross-border travel between the two countries. With UPI now available at many LankaQR-accepting merchants, including shops, cafés, restaurants and tourist sites, the PickMe tie-up extends that digital payment ecosystem into transport, one of the most common expenses on any trip.
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