RBI says in-bound travellers visiting India can now make local payments using UPI

Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said in-bound travellers visiting India can now make local payments using Unified Payments Interface (UPI). RBI had announced the facility on February 8.

To start with, this facility is available to travellers from G-20 countries, at select international airports (Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi). Eligible travellers would be issued Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) wallets linked to UPI for making payments at merchant outlets. Delegates from G20 countries can also avail this facility at various meeting venues. To begin with, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and two non-bank PPI issuers, Pine Labs Private Limited and Transcorp International Limited will issue UPI linked wallets.

PPI examples include smart cards, online accounts, online wallets, stripe cards, paper vouchers, etc. The primary objective of these instruments is to get access to the amount already prepaid. 

Travellers visiting India can now experience the convenience of UPI payments at over five crore merchant outlets across India, which accept QR Code-based UPI payments, said RBI in a statement. 

"UPI has become a ubiquitous payment instrument for retail electronic payments in India. An enhancement has recently been made to provide UPI access to non-resident Indians who have international mobile numbers linked to their NRE / NRO accounts. It is now proposed to permit all inbound travellers to India also to access UPI for their merchant payments (P2M) while they are in the country. To start with, this facility will be extended to travellers from the G-20 countries, arriving at select international airports. Going forward, this facility will be enabled across all other entry points in the country. Necessary operational instructions will be issued shortly," said RBI in its February 8 statement. 

In what is a first-of-its-kind collaboration with another country, India and Singapore on Tuesday linked their respective online payments systems -- UPI of India and PayNow of Singapore -- for seamless cross-border transactions between the two countries. The virtual launch function was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.

The linkage of these two payment systems of both countries would enable residents of both countries to the faster and more cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances. People in both the countries will be able to send money real-time via QR-code based or simply by entering mobile numbers linked to the bank account. "The linking of fintech services between India and Singapore will take the technology to a new level," PM Modi said at the launch event.