G-20 tourists can use UPI at select Indian airports

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?
• What are the features of UPI?
• What are the benefits of UPI?
• UPI Transaction: Statistics
• UPI: Recent developments
• News Summary: G-20 tourists can use UPI at select Indian airports

Why in news?

• Recently, RBI permitted all inbound travellers from the Group of Twenty (G-20) countries and non-resident Indians to access Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for their merchant payments (P2M) at select airports while they are in the country.

What is Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?

• UPI is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank).
• It does so by merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.
• In other words, UPI is an interface via which one can transfer money between bank accounts across a single window.
• It was launched in 2016, by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

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What are the features of UPI?

• Immediate money transfer through mobile device round the clock 24*7 and 365 days
• Single mobile application for accessing different bank accounts
• Hassle free transactions as customers are not required to enter the details such as Card no, Account number, IFSC etc.

What are the benefits of UPI?

• For Banks
  • A universal application for one transaction;
  • A single click Two Factor authentication;
  • Safer and more secure; Enables easy transactions;
  • Unique Identifier
• For Merchants
  • Easier fund collection; In-App Payments (IAP)
  • No risk of storing the customer’s virtual address;
  • Tap customers not having credit/debit cards
• For Customers
  • Single application for accessing various bank accounts;
  • Round the clock availability;
  • One can easily raise a complaint from the mobile app directly;
  • Use of Virtual ID is secure

UPI Transaction: Statistics

• According to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data, payments using UPI were at Rs 12.98 lakh crore in value in January 2023.
• As per the Economic Survey 2022-23, 8840 crore digital financial transactions in India (total value of Rs 126 lakh crore—around 52%) were made via UPI in FY22.

UPI: Recent developments

• The Union government has lowered the allocation meant for compensating fintech startups and banks that facilitate free UPI transactions.
• In December, 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.

News Summary: G-20 tourists can use UPI at select Indian airports

• The Reserve Bank of India has said that it will allow all inbound travellers to use 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.

H2: What has been announced?

• Banks and non-banks, authorised to issue prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), can issue rupee-denominated full-KYC PPIs to foreign nationals and NRIs visiting India. 
• Such PPIs can also be issued in co-branding arrangement with entities authorised to deal in foreign exchange under FEMA.
  • The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) is legislation which regulates the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.
• The PPIs can be issued in the form of wallets linked to UPI — like Google Pay and PhonePe — and can be used for merchant payments (P2M) only.
• Loading and reloading of such PPIs will be against receipt of foreign exchange by cash or through any payment instrument.

Who can utilise this system?

• To start with, this facility will be extended to travellers from the G-20 countries, arriving at select international airports. 
  • The G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.
• Going forward, this facility will be enabled across all other entry points in the country.

How are PPIs issued?

• The PPIs can be issued after physical verification of Passport and Visa of the customers at the point of issuance.
• The conversion to Indian rupee can be carried out only by entities authorised to deal in foreign exchange under FEMA.
• The unutilised balances in such PPIs can be encashed in foreign currency or transferred ‘back to source’ (payment source from where the PPI was loaded), in compliance with foreign exchange regulations.

What are the benefits of this announcement?

• For inbound travellers
  • It will make it easier and more convenient for international travellers to make payments while in India.
    • Now these foreigners will be able to make merchant payments via UPI with the help of their international mobile numbers.
  • With this, international travellers will not have to carry large amounts of cash or convert their money into the local currency.
• Strengthen India’s position as the payments leader
  • With G20 India Summit coming up, this step will turn out to strengthen India’s position as the payments leader in the global market.
  • India’s UPI is one of the most successful electronic payments systems globally. 
  • Therefore, the extension of UPI services to citizens of G20 countries will foster India’s relationship with these nations for future collaborations
• Boost to Indian digital ecosystem
  • It will further boost the growth of the digital payments ecosystem in India.

Q1) What is National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)?

NPCI is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.It is an initiative of RBI and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.The objective of NPCI is to create a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.

Q2) What is FEMA?

The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) is legislation which regulates the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.

Sources: G-20 tourists can use UPI at select Indian airports: How?  |  NPCI  |  Business Today