The Cabinet of Ministers has given the nod for the resolution furnished by the Minister of Highways to implement LANKAQR payment methodology at expressways in a bid to minimize the physical use of currency in Sri Lanka.

The government has joined hands with all the licensed institutions in the endeavour of popularizing and encouraging the said payment method, the Department of Government Information said in a press release.

Accordingly, as one of its initiatives, a proposal was tabled to introduce LANKAQR methodology for manual paying counters in the expressways managed by the Road Development Authority (RDA).

This will allow the motorists utilizing the expressways to pay the due amount within 8-10 seconds by scanning the QR code through LANKAQR active mobile payment app of any bank at the paying gate by indicating the relevant amount of money on their mobile phone.

LANKAQR code was introduced by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) together with licensed financial institutions and LankaClear (Pvt) Ltd with the aim of moving towards a less-cash society while increasing financial inclusion in Sri Lanka.

LANKAQR enables customers to make payments, directly from their bank accounts to accounts of merchants or service providers, using payment apps of LANKAQR certified financial institutions.

This method is a low-cost digital payment solution, which targets small and medium enterprises especially.