New Delhi: Indians in other countries will soon be able to access Unified Payments Interface using their international mobile numbers.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in 10 countries can use UPI services for transactions without relying on their phone number in India.
These countries are Singapore, the USA, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the UK.
According to the National Payments Corporation of India, accounts such as NRE/NRO (Non-Resident External and Non-Resident Ordinary) having international mobile numbers can transact using UPI.
Payments Corporation has given partner banks time till April 30 to comply with the instructions.
An NRE account helps NRIs to transfer foreign earnings to India, while an NRO account allows them to manage income earned in India.
The only condition is that banks should ensure that such accounts are permitted as per Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations, follow Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines and safeguard against money laundering or terrorist financing.
A cabinet committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a Rs 2,600-crore scheme to promote RuPay debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions.
Officials said the big move would help international students, families living abroad, and local businesses.
Under the scheme, banks will provide financial incentives to promote transactions using RuPay and UPI.
In a tweet, PM Modi said, “India’s progress in digital payments will be further strengthened by today’s cabinet decision regarding the promotion of RuPay Debit Card and BHIM-UPI transactions.”
There has been a massive jump in UPI transactions in just six years. In December, UPI transactions worth over Rs 12 lakh crore took place.
