New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced two major updates to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) this week, to broaden its usage and functionality.
Increased Limit for UPI Transactions:
The RBI has raised the per transaction limit for tax payments via UPI from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh, a decision that promises to simplify the process of making substantial tax payments digitally.
“Consumers will find tax payments through UPI even more convenient,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das remarked during the announcement at the Monetary Policy Committee’s 50th meeting on Thursday.
Introduction of “Delegated Payments” in UPI:
A notable addition to UPI is the “Delegated Payments” feature. It permits a primary user to grant permission to another person (a secondary user) to conduct UPI transactions from the primary user’s bank account within a certain limit.
Governor Das elaborated, “This will allow one individual to authorize another to perform UPI transactions up to a certain amount from the primary user’s bank account, eliminating the need for the secondary user to link a separate bank account to UPI.”
Anticipated to significantly drive UPI’s adoption, this feature is particularly beneficial for groups such as children and the elderly who may not have their bank accounts connected to UPI.
Dilip Asbe, CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages UPI, expressed on social media, “Payment systems in India are consistently engaging.”
Sameer Nigam, co-founder of PhonePe, commended the new feature, predicting it “will greatly expedite UPI’s adoption among the next 300-400 million Indian users.”
