RBI permits automatic replenishment of UPI Lite wallet

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank on Friday proposed a facility to allow customers to automatically replenish their UPI Lite wallets to promote small-value digital payments.

Currently, the UPI Lite has a daily limit of Rs 2,000, while the upper limit for a single payment is Rs 500.

UPI Lite is a simplified version of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). It acts as an on-device wallet for small-value transactions.

Presently, the UPI Lite app can only hold a maximum of Rs 2000 at a time.

"To encourage wider adoption of UPI Lite, it is now proposed to bring it under the e-mandate framework by introducing a facility for customers to automatically replenish their UPI Lite wallets if the balance goes below the threshold limit set by them," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

This will further enhance the ease of making small value digital payments, he said while announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy here.

UPI Lite was introduced in September 2022 to enable small value payments in a quick and seamless manner through an on-device wallet.

Das further said that the adoption of e-mandates for recurring payment transactions has been increasing.

It is now proposed to include payments, such as replenishment of balances in Fastag, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), etc., which are recurring in nature, but without any fixed periodicity, in the e-mandate framework, he noted.

"This will enable customers to automatically replenish the balances in Fastag, NCMC, etc. if the balance goes below the threshold limit set by them. This will enhance convenience in making travel/mobility-related payments," he said.