The Ministry of Finance has said that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has gained acceptance in Singapore (March, 2020), Bhutan (July, 2021) and recently with partners in UAE and Nepal (February, 2022).
The ministry added that travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years impacted overseas use of this facility.
BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma asked the ministry to elaborate on the countries that have adopted the payments system and the measures undertaken by the government to expand the reach of UPI.
Minister of State for Ministry of Finance Bhagwat Karad said, “NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is devoted for internationalisation of UPI. NIPL has undertaken various initiatives across nations to enable cross-border acceptance of BHIM UPI QR at merchant establishments. These partnerships will facilitate Indian travellers to make payments using the BHIM UPI QR for all their retail purchases at international merchant establishments.”
He added that Reserve Bank of India has been facilitating engagements for the expansion of UPI in countries which have potential for collaboration.
It said that central bank to central bank cooperation through an agreement of MoU, central bank facilitated discussion and agreement between the network and the central bank of government agency, and network to network arrangement are some of the ways of engagement being explored by the government for the expansion of UPI.
The RBI also launched UPI123Pay – UPI payments for feature phone users – earlier this month. Till March 21, 37,096 users were on-boarded, while 21,833 transactions amounting to Rs 79.15 lakh have been made.
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Also read: RBI launches UPI '123PAY' for feature phones: All you need to know