RBI to allow all inbound travellers to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

RBI to allow all inbound travellers to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

Subject: Economy

Section : Monetary Policy

Context: The Reserve Bank of India has said that it will allow all inbound travellers to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments for their merchant payments while they are in the country. The facility will be first introduced for travellers from G20 countries arriving at select international airports

Concept:

• NPCI asked the UPI ecosystem to allow users from some countries with non-resident account types like non-resident external (NRE) and non-resident ordinary (NRO) accounts with international mobile numbers to transact through UPI.
• With this, now Indians staying abroad can make payments through UPI even with having a domestic mobile connection.
• The central bank is proposing to allow all inbound travelers to India to use UPI for merchant payments during their stay in the country.
• The initiative will initially be rolled out for travellers from G20 countries at selected international airports
• This announcement is in-line with the steps undertaken by NPCI to take UPI global, including the extension of UPI on-boarding and transaction facility to Non-Resident account types like NRE/NRO.

Advantages of this facility:

• Allows easier and more convenient for international travellers to make payments
• It provide travellers with a secure and seamless payment experience,
• It boost the growth of the digital payments ecosystem in India,
• It strengthen India’s position as the payments leader in the global market
• extension of UPI services to citizens of G20 countries will foster India’s relationship with these nations for future collaborations
• Travellers from G20 nations will be able to make merchant payments via UPI with the help of their international mobile numbers.
• Both travellers and merchants will benefit due to an advanced digital payments acceptance ecosystem being set up by the Government
• Under this facility, foreign currency will be deducted from the user’s bank account, which is similar to international debit card transactions