The government has informed the parliament that over 37,000 users have joined the digital payment service meant for feature phones while 21,833 successful transactions have taken place since its launch on March 8, 2022.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently announced the availability of the UPI123Pay service for feature phones without internet. Prior to the launch of this service, the Unified payments interface (UPI) was limited to smartphone users. In addition, the parliament was also informed that various steps have been taken by the RBI to expand the reach of UPI outside India. To this end, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is striving to promote the UPI service outside the country.
Speaking about the current footprints of BHIM UPI internationally, Bhagwat K Karad, Minister of State for Finance, informed that BHIM UPI QR has gained acceptance in Singapore (March, 2020), Bhutan (July, 2021), and recently with partners in UAE and Nepal (February, 2022).
