LK Domain Registry, which has run Sri Lanka’s .lk domain since 1990, has welcomed Domgate as the first registrar to connect to its EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) service to register and manage .lk domain names. For brand owners, resellers and registrars looking for a .lk domain registrar, Domgate now works with the registry’s own system, and the registry’s rules and review stay the same.
What is LK Domain Registry’s EPP service?
It is the channel through which a registrar’s systems register and manage .lk names in the registry’s database. EPP is an Internet standard: RFC 5730 defines it as a protocol for managing objects “stored in a shared central repository”, here the register of .lk names, and RFC 5731 applies it to domain names. Its commands check, create, renew, transfer, update and delete names.
The connection changes the channel, not the rules. Domgate’s systems send .lk registrations, renewals and updates to the registry over EPP, and the registry still reviews every new name. Its registration page says approval generally comes within one working day, and that a name can take up to 24 hours to activate once the payment is identified. Until the review is over, a paid name is only reserved. Names the registry has doubts about go to its management, which decides generally within three working days.
Which country is .lk and who runs it?
.lk is the country-code domain of Sri Lanka. IANA’s root zone database gives 15 June 1990 as its registration date, the Council for Information Technology, LK Domain Registrar, as its manager, and LK Domain Registry as its administrative and technical contact. The registry, a company limited by guarantee managed by a board of directors, calls itself the sole administrator of .lk.
It also runs Sri Lanka’s two domains in local scripts: .ලංකා for names in Sinhala and .இலங்கை for names in Tamil, both delegated on 19 August 2010, according to IANA’s records for the Sinhala and Tamil domains. The registry counted 53,645 registered domains on 31 March 2024. In January 2026, its chief executive said that .lk reached 62% of Sri Lanka’s domain name market, with growing adoption among overseas individuals and international organisations.
Which .lk domain names can you register?
Names directly under .lk, or under one of the five open second levels that the registry’s naming structure suggests for different users, and names in Sinhala or Tamil under the two local-script domains.
| Extension | What it is for |
|---|---|
| .lk | Organisations of any type, and individuals |
| .com.lk | Suggested for commercial organisations |
| .org.lk | Suggested for non-profit organisations |
| .edu.lk | Suggested for educational organisations |
| .hotel.lk | Suggested for hotels |
| .web.lk | Suggested for websites |
| .ලංකා | Names in Sinhala |
| .இலங்கை | Names in Tamil |
Three second levels are closed: .sch.lk for schools, .gov.lk for government bodies and .ac.lk for universities. Under the registry’s registration policy, a name uses the letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and hyphens, never at the start or the end, and a single character is not enough. The policy also refuses some names under .lk, such as names suggesting a link with the government without its approval, country and place names, another party’s trademark unless the applicant is entitled to use it, and personal names, except for people who need their own name for their profession.
What does a .lk domain registrar need from you?
The same data whoever the registrar is, because the registry sets the rules for every Sri Lanka domain registration under .lk and its open second levels. Its policy says names are in general registered to organisations, but individuals may also register, and the registry accepts foreign registrants: its domain guide asks for the registrant’s residence type, foreign or local, before an order is placed. The registry asks for:
- The organisation: its name, business registration number, business address and phone number.
- The registrant: the organisation’s contact person for the name, with an email address, a phone number and a national identity card (NIC), passport or driving licence number, kept up to date.
- A reason: why you chose the name and what the website will contain, such as a company or product name, given with the order.
- Documents, for some names only: a letter or a licence for schools, religious places, banking, insurance, sports, gambling, political parties, associations, universities and similar names, as the registry’s procedure lists them.
Uploads are optional when the order is placed, but the domain guide warns that sending documents later delays the registration, and any document the registry asks for during its review must arrive within 7 days.
Resellers and registrars ordering for a client give the client’s details, never their own: the procedure asks for the client’s company as the organisation and its contact person as the registrant. The policy also forbids selling .lk names or offering them for sale, and the registry’s FAQ allows a change of registrant only for a valid reason, such as a restructuring or the transfer of the whole business.
What should you do now?
Four steps for brand owners, and for resellers to pass on to their clients:
- Check the names you need. Domgate’s free whois lookup takes up to 20 names at once. For .lk, whose registry publishes no whois server, it links to the registry’s website and its search.
- Register in the right entity. A .lk name cannot be sold and changes registrant only for a valid reason, so register it for the company or organisation that will use it.
- Prepare everything before you order. Have the business registration number, the contact person’s identity document number and the reason for the name ready, with the licence or letter if the name needs one, so that the review is not held up.
- Order early. Names are allocated first come, first served, and a later but complete application has priority over an earlier but incomplete one, according to the procedure.
Domgate registers .lk domains at €80.00 a year and second-level names such as .com.lk at €20.00 a year, excluding VAT. Its Sri Lanka page lists the Sri Lanka extensions it offers with their prices, and its accreditations page lists .lk among the 21 extensions that Domgate registers directly with their registries. Resellers and registrars can add .lk, and any of the 1,300+ extensions of the catalogue, to their own offer through Domgate’s reseller partner programme.
