Indians Living Abroad Can Now Use UPI for Transfers, Payments

National Payments Corporation of India has shared that Indians living in 10 countries can now transact using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with their international numbers. These countries include Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, and Hong Kong, among others. This will allow Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to easily send money to India.

With the latest update shared by the National Payments Corporation, Indians living in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, the UK, and the US will be able to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This will allow NRIs to use UPI services and send money to India, without having to depend on their Indian number.

NRIs who have Non Resident External (NRE) or Non Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts can use UPI with their international mobile numbers. They can send money to India and also manage their income earned in India. Partner banks have been given till April 30 to comply with the new regulation. The move was part of a Rs. 2,600 crore scheme for promoting low-value BHIM-UPI transactions and RuPay debit cards.

PM Modi said in a tweet, “India’s strides in digital payments will be further strengthened by today’s Cabinet decision regarding promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and BHIM-UPI transactions.” This comes in response to the increasing UPI transactions in the past six years. Reportedly, in December, UPI transactions worth over Rs. 12 lakh crore took place.

The banks that comply with this scheme will be offered incentives to promote transactions using RuPay and UPI. This move is said to help international students, local businesses, and families living abroad. Meanwhile, banks need to ensure that such accounts are allowed according to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations and that they follow the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

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