Delhi: India is all set to expand its Unified Payment Interface (UPI) service to more Gulf countries. The service is expanding to Gulf countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has stated that several countries have expressed interest in implementing the online transaction system and discussions are in the early stages.
National media Mint reports that NPCI is trying to establish bank-to-bank transfer systems with Gulf countries to simplify cross-border remittances.
“NPCI is in initial phase discussions with a few Gulf countries to increase remittances out of the country using UPI. Bank account to bank account transfers will be the first phase. Reserve Bank of India and collaboration with central banks in other countries have facilitated the discussions,” said Dilip Asbey, Managing Director and Chief Executive, NPCI.
Earlier this year, UPI and Singapore’s digital payments platform Paynow began a collaboration. In 2021, Bhutan became the first country to adopt the UPI system, while in 2022, Nepal also became a part of the scheme. Earlier in January this year, NPCI had announced that non-resident accounts such as NREs/NROs with international mobile numbers would be allowed to transact using UPI.
Efforts are underway to launch transactions from mobile numbers of 10 countries: Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, United States of America, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. Negotiations with the UAE have progressed to a large extent. The announcement of the plan may be made soon after the discussion is completed as soon as possible.
Such transactions are permitted only in accordance with existing FEMA regulations. Along with this, the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India should be followed. Meanwhile, Subhrangshu Niyogi, executive director at Escrowpay, said that India expects a total of 10 billion UPI transactions in June. He added, ‘Digital transactions are on the rise due to the rapid digitization of India’s economy and the impact of technology in promoting financial inclusion.
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2023-06-13 13:41:54
