RBI Governor announced that travelers from G20
countries will now be able to make UPI payments.
Unified Payments Interface, also known as UPI, is now a widely used payment method
in India for retail electronic transactions. UPI is a payment system that enables mobile
phone-based money transfers between any two bank accounts. With UPI, a consumer can
pay different retailers straight from their bank account, both online and offline, without
having to type their net banking or wallet passwords or their credit card information.
Following the lifting of the pandemic-induced lockdown, India experienced a steady
influx of international visitors once more, with foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in June
2022 recording an astounding 1,349% increase over June 2021.
However, the ease of transactions is a problem for foreign visitors to India. Digital
payments are the way to go, especially in remote areas of the country where ATMs are
scarce or inoperable and carrying a lot of cash might be risky.
The pandemic further pushed the adoption of UPI with people preferring digital, cashless
transactions to the hassle of cash exchange. As of January 2023, 385 banks are live on
UPI. In January 2023, these banks completed approximately 800 billion transactions
totaling around $13,000 billion.
Today, UPI is like the new normal, being used by everyone, including cab drivers,
roadside tea vendors, online grocery apps, and rickshaw drivers. This time, India will
hold the G20, an intergovernmental grouping of the world’s principal industrialized and
emerging economies from December 1, 2022, until November 30, 2023.
Recently, a change was made to give non-resident Indians with overseas mobile numbers
connected to their NRE / NRO accounts access to UPI. It is currently being suggested
that all foreign visitors to India be given access to UPI for their P2M commercial
payments during their time there. The Reserve Bank of India has stated that it will now
permit inbound travelers from G20 nations to utilize the UPI for making payments in the
country upon arrival at specific airports. Additionally, the RBI announced that they have
plans to eventually make the UPI service available to all travelers in the nation.
According to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, UPI is currently extremely popular in
India for retail digital payments, thus this is the first and most crucial step. The service
would initially be made available to G20 travelers arriving at specific airports. Ravi
Battula, vice president of merchant acquiring business at digital payment solutions
company Wibmo, called the current announcement as a leap frogged progress showing
the real time payment to the world.
UPI, which is governed by the RBI, is widely regarded as the Indian government’s first
step towards a cashless society and the way to go.
