The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday increased the UPI Lite wallet limit from Rs 2,000 to 5,000. As per the new rules announced by the RBI, the upper transaction limit for UPI Lite under offline framework has been raised. The upper limit has been increased from the earlier Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per transaction.
The circular issued by RBI has been issued under the authority of Section 18 read with Section 10(2). Both of these sections fall under Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.
Offline Framework of the UPI Lite network has been updated by increasing various security measures. RBI through a circular on Wednesday primarily has increased the upper limit for each transaction under UPI Lite from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. The total limit however at any point in time is Rs 5,000 for transactions.
Offline Framework given by RBI had earlier mentioned Rs 500 as the upper limit for each digital transaction. Rs 2,000 was the total limit however for any digital transaction under offline framework at any point of time.
RBI New Rule: Motive Behind The Changes
The changes announced by RBI are aimed at increasing the user base of Offline UPI transactions. Digital transactions under UPI done online have increased to an all time high. This is evident from the fact that Unified Payment Interface processed 16.58 billion transactions in October. However most of these transactions are online whereas offline framework has been under-utilised.
The changes announced by RBI will come into effect immediately, proving to be helpful for many people. All of these changes like increase of upper limit for transactions and total amount at a point of time will be effective. RBI has emphasized that these changes further aims to streamline digital payments while ensuring consumer convenience.
Previous Changes In Transaction Limits
Earlier in the month of October, RBI made another announcement of an increase in transaction limits. These changes were done specifically for the convenience of keypad mobile phone users using UPI. The announcements were made by RBI governor Shaktikanth Das.
RBI amended the ‘offline framework’ issued in January 2022 with an aim at facilitating small value digital payments in offline mode. UPI Lite transactions are offline to the extent that Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) is not required. Additionally transaction alerts are not sent in real time but rather sent later.
