NRIs from 10 countries can use UPI with their international mobile numbers

Non-resident account types like NRE/NRO that have international mobile numbers will now be allowed to transact with UPI, according to a notice by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Transactions from mobile numbers of ten countries will be enabled to begin with — Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, United States of America, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.

These NRI accounts will be permitted to on-board and transact in UPI, provided the member banks ensure such accounts are only allowed as per the extant FEMA regulations and they adhere to the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

The NPCI noted that all onboarding and transaction level checks — such as cooling period and risk rules — with be applicable as per existing UPI guidelines.

The notice said there had been customer demand in the ecosystem to enable UPI for their NR accounts linked to international numbers.

The announcement comes at a time when the Union government has approved an outlay of ₹2,600 crore to promote payments using RuPay cards and the UPI.

On January 6, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said: “For UPI, we have already entered into agreements with countries in this region, for example, with Bhutan and other countries like Nepal and we are trying to provide the UPI facility to make cross-border payments much easier in this region…”