On Thursday, the Reserve Bank suggested raising the per-transaction payment cap for UPI Lite in offline mode to Rs 500 and outlined other steps to expand the country's access to and use of digital payments.
The Reserve Bank has established limits of Rs 200 per transaction and Rs 2,000 overall per payment instrument for small-value digital payments made in offline mode, including those made with the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) and UPI Lite.
These channels provide quicker, more dependable, contactless payment methods for regular small-value purchases, transit payments, etc. by eliminating the requirement for two-factor verification for small-value transactions.
To mitigate the dangers connected with relaxing two-factor authentication, the total limit is still set at Rs 2,000, and guidelines in this respect would be released soon, he said.
It is proposed to enable "Conversational Payments" on UPI, which will allow users to engage in conversation with AI-powered systems to make payments, as well as introduce offline payments on UPI using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology through "UPI-Lite" on-device wallet, with the aim of leveraging new technologies to improve the digital payments experience for users, according to Das.
With its simplicity, security, and real-time functionality, UPI has completely changed the Indian digital payment industry. Numerous additional features that have been added to UPI over time have made it possible to meet the economy's various payment demands.
Conversational instructions have enormous potential to improve the UPI system's usability and, as a result, its reach, he added, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more and more integrated into the digital economy.
Accordingly, it is suggested to provide a cutting-edge payment method called "Conversational Payments" on UPI, which would allow users to have a dialogue with an AI-powered system to start and finish transactions in a secure setting.
According to him, this channel would be made available on UPI channels for both smartphones and feature phones, aiding in the country's increased use of digital technology.
He said, "Instructions to NPCI will be issued shortly." The feature would initially be offered in Hindi and English and will thereafter be made available in other Indian languages.
An on-device wallet named "UPI-Lite" was introduced in September 2022 to optimize processing resources for banks and decrease transaction failures in order to speed up small-value transactions over UPI.
More than ten million transactions are processed each month because to the product's growing popularity. "It is suggested to leverage Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to make offline transactions easier in order to encourage the usage of UPI-Lite. In addition to enabling retail digital payments in circumstances when internet or telecom access is poor or nonexistent, this functionality will also guarantee speed with few transaction rejects. Soon, he promised, NPCI would get
