MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced an increase in the transaction limit for offline digital payments made through UPI Lite.
The changes, with an immediate effect, raise the per-transaction limit from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 and the overall limit from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000.
UPI Lite is a streamlined version of the Unified Payments Interface designed for small-value transactions. It functions as an on-device wallet within the users’ existing UPI app – like Google Pay, PhonePe, or BHIM.
Users can add funds to the UPI Lite account from their linked bank accounts and use the balance to make quick and easy small payments without having to enter the UPI Pin for every transaction.
By processing these transactions offline, UPI Lite reduces the dependence on real-time bank systems.
This leads to quicker payments and fewer failures, especially in areas with spotty internet connectivity. It also reduces clutter on the users’ bank statement.