Now NRIs from 10 countries can make payments through UPI, here’s how

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will now allow Non Resident Indians (NRI) from 10 countries to make payments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

NRIs having non-resident external (NRE) or non-resident ordinary (NRO) accounts in the 10 selected countries wouldn’t be required to use an Indian mobile number anymore and make UPI payments through their international numbers, the NPCI has said in a circular.

Eligible pin codes

The NPCI said, for starters, it will enable transaction for mobile numbers from Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, USA, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the UK, and later extend it to other countries.

The NPCI said the decision has been taken after receiving requests from NRI to help them use UPI for payments in India.

Also read: UPI transactions rise 7.7% to 730 crore in October

Partner banks have been given an April 30 deadline by NPCI to comply with the directions to enable the UPI transaction for the said country codes.

Conditions apply

Banks, however, have been instructed to ensure that the transactions are allowed in line with regulations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and have been asked to adhere to “the guidelines/instructions issued by the concerned regulatory departments of Reserve Bank of India from time to time.”

The remitter and beneficiary banks have also been asked to follow required “Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Combating of Financing of Terrorism checks and compliance validation/account level validations as per the extent.”

‘Will help NRIs visiting India’

While the move comes as a much-needed relief for several Indians living abroad, Payments Council of India chairman Vishwas Patel said that it would mainly help NRIs visiting India and boost the country’s economy in the long term.

Also read: e-RUPI explained: Digital payment without card or bank account

“It is a far-sighted move, a move that would really benefit the NRIs. The major convenience factor would be in the form of ‘payment/money transfer convenience’ for NRIs when they visit India and can pay easily across millions of Indian merchants accepting UPI, thus, now they can do away with the use of their expensive international cards. I believe in the long run our NRIs will play a vital role in increasing the adaption and popularity of Indian payment technology – UPI, in foreign soil and truly make UPI a global payment and money transfer network,” he said.

“NRIs will just need to link their NRE and NRO accounts linked to their international SIM to UPI and use it like any other Indian UPI user for merchant payment as well as peer-to-peer payments,” founder of Sarvatra Technologies Mandar Agashe told news agency PTI.

UPI: Most-used payment mode

Initially used for peer-to peer (P2P) transactions, UPI is now the most-preferred platform of transaction in India, both for P2P and peer-to-merchant transactions, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform is currently supported by 381 banks.

Also read: India’s digital payments ecosystem ‘simply stunning’, says Anand Mahindra

UPI payments have seen a massive surge in the past six years, hitting a massive record transaction of ₹12.82 lakh crore in December 2022.