“UPI has become hugely popular for retail digital payments in India. It is now proposed to permit all inbound travellers to India to use UPI for their merchant payments (P2M) while they are in the country,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the outcome of the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee on Wednesday.
Which travellers can use UPI for merchant payments in India?
To start with, this UPI facility will be extended to travellers from G-20 countries arriving at select international airports, Das added. The Group of Twenty (G-20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States) and the European Union.
Commenting on this development, Rajsri Rengan, Head of Banking and Payments, India and Philippines, FIS, a fintech company, said, “The RBI’s announcement around extending UPI facility for inbound travellers to India is a great initiative. Customers coming to India will now be able to use UPI while carrying out P2M transactions. This is a great move to scale up the use of digital payments in India as well as improve their payment experience.”
“This proposal can be extremely beneficial as it will make it easier and more convenient for international travelers to make payments while in India, without having to carry large amounts of cash or convert their money into the local currency. Additionally, using UPI will provide travelers with a secure and seamless payment experience, and further boost the growth of the digital payments ecosystem in India,” said CA Manish P hingar, Founder at Fintoo.
Will this UPI facility be extended to all the tourists coming to India?
“Going forward, this facility will be enabled across all other entry points in the country. Necessary operational instructions will be issued shortly,” the central bank said in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies on February 8, 2023.
“Extending UPI payment facility to travelers into India from G-20 countries are innovative measures which will further boost ease of living. The extension of UPI for international travellers from G20 countries will not only be of great benefit to foreign tourists but will also showcase at the individual level the significant progress that India has made in technology to people across the world,” said Anant Singhania, President , IMC.
These NRIs can use UPI payments in India
“UPI has become a ubiquitous payment instrument for retail electronic payments in India. An enhancement has recently been made to provide UPI access to non-resident Indians who have international mobile numbers linked to their NRE / NRO accounts,” the central bank noted.
Last month, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) allowed UPI platforms to onboard non-resident accountholders (NRE/NRO accounts) from 10 countries with international mobile numbers with certain conditions. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) with NRE or NRO accounts in these 10 countries don’t need to have Indian mobile numbers to use UPI in India. They will soon be able to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platforms with their international mobile numbers.
To start with, the NPCI will enable transactions from mobile numbers having country codes of Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, USA, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, along with the current domestic country code, as per an NPCI circular released on January 10, 2023.
“The move of extending UPI for inbound travellers from the G20 countries comes at a strategic point after announcing the UPI facility for NRI with NRE and NRO accounts linked with their mobile numbers. With G-20 India Summit coming up, this step will turn out to strengthen India’s position as the payments leader in the global market. Inbound travellers from G-20 countries will be able to experience UPI payments while transacting with different merchants. Once these travellers arrive in India, they will be able to avail the facility by complying with the necessary procedure set by RBI at the airports and select entry points. India’s UPI is one of the most successful electronic payments system globally. Therefore, the extension of UPI services to citizens of G20 countries will foster India’s relationship with these nations for future collaborations,” Swapnil Jambhale, Co-founder and COO, Safexpay.
Other announcements
RBI will also launch a pilot project on QR Code based Coin Vending Machine (QCVM) in 12 cities in the country. “These vending machines will dispense coins against debit to the customer’s account using UPI instead of physical tendering of banknotes. This will enhance the ease of accessibility to coins,” Das announced.