New policy of UPI for NRI

Subject : Economy

Section :Msc

Concept :

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) paved the way for international (phone) numbers to be able to transact using UPI.
The Union Cabinet also approved an incentive scheme with an outlay of ₹2,600 crores for the promotion of RuPay debit Cards and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions (person-to-merchant) in FY 2022-23.
As per the DigiDhan dashboard maintained by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, BHIM-UPI accounted for 52% of all digital payments in FY 2021-22.

International numbers:

Non-resident accounts such as non-resident external accounts (NRE) and non-resident ordinary accounts (NRO), having international numbers, will now be allowed into the UPI payment system.
NRE accounts are those used by non-residents to transfer earnings from foreign countries to India while NRO accounts are used to manage income earned in India by non-residents. These incomes could be rent, interest, and pension, among other things.
At present, users from 10 countries will be able to avail of the facility. They are Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the U.K.
It will allow NRIs to use the payment method for making utility bill payments for their families (or themselves) in India, make purchases from e-commerce or online platforms and make payments to physical merchants who accept UPI QR-based payments when they travel to India.

Merchant Discount Rate

Presently, there is no MDR charge levied for RuPay-based debit card and UPI transactions.
The merchant discount rate is the rate charged to a merchant for payment processing services on debit and credit card transactions.
It is collected by the acquirer to compensate the varied service providers and intermediaries in the payment system.

Unified Payments Interface

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India.
The interface facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant
It is used on mobile devices to instantly transfer funds between two bank accounts.