UPI Enabled for Bookings at Burj Khalifa and Sentosa

Indians planning a trip to the United Arab Emirates or Singapore can now pay for their bookings with the Unified Payments Interface apps they use at home. Online ticketing at two famous attractions has been opened to UPI, removing the currency friction that usually comes with booking an experience abroad.

The two tie-ups

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the overseas arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, announced the partnership for the UAE on 29 July 2026 and the one for Singapore on 9 September 2026.

• In the UAE, NIPL worked with NEOPAY and Emaar Entertainment to switch on UPI at At the Top, Burj Khalifa. It is the first attraction in the Emirates to accept UPI for e-commerce.
• In Singapore, the partner is the payment institution FOMO Pay, and acceptance now extends to Resorts World Sentosa, which covers Universal Studios Singapore, the Singapore Oceanarium and Adventure Cove Waterpark.

The Singapore market received 1.2 million Indian visitors in 2025, which is why the island was an obvious next step for the payment system.

Why it matters

The two additions take UPI beyond the QR-based merchant payments that already work in several markets, and into advance travel planning: a family can book tickets from India, in rupees, through an app it already trusts, before the journey begins. The Ministry of Finance describes the tie-ups as proof that an Indian-built digital payment system is becoming part of the customer experience offered by global destinations.

UPI abroad

The idea is not new. Ticketing for the Eiffel Tower through UPI was launched on 26 January 2024. UPI is today accepted in ten countries: Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Greece. Uzbekistan is set to be the eleventh, following a commercial agreement announced on 30 August 2026 during the Prime Minister's visit to that country.