Inbound Travellers From G20 Countries Can Avail UPI Facility At Three Airports, Says RBI

The RBI said eligible travellers would be issued Prepaid Payment Instruments wallets linked to UPI for making payments at merchant outlets

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said inbound travellers from G20 countries arriving at Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru international airports would be able to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for merchant transactions.

According to the statement issued by the central bank, eligible travellers would be issued Prepaid Payment Instruments wallets linked to UPI for making payments at merchant outlets.

The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies.

Even delegates from G20 countries would be able to avail this facility at various meeting venues. 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, the RBI statement said.

It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union (EU).

Payment transactions through UPI rose 1.3 per cent on-month to a high of nearly Rs 13 lakh crore in January.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the UPI-PayNow linkage between India and Singapore has started a new chapter of cross-border fintech connectivity. Modi and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the launch of the linkage of cross-border connectivity between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore.

The banks in India participating in this exercise are Axis Bank, DBS India, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and State Bank of India.

Meanwhile, the NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payment Corporation of India and the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan, have partnered for enabling and implementing BHIM UPI QR-based payments in Bhutan.

Nepal became the first foreign country to deploy the UPI as a payment platform, officials said, adding that the collaboration between the neighbour's Manam Infotech and Gateway Payments Service has made person-to-person (P2P), person-to-merchant (P2M) and cross-border payments operational.