The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has achieved recognition in Singapore (March 2020), Bhutan (July 2021), and recently with partners in the UAE and Nepal, according to the Ministry of Finance (February, 2022).
Travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 epidemic in the last two years hampered abroad utilisation of this facility, the ministry said. Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, a BJP MP, urged the ministry to explain on the countries that have implemented the payments system, as well as the government's efforts to expand UPI's reach.
"NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is focused to internationalisation of UPI," said Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad. NIPL has launched a number of initiatives across the globe to enable merchants to accept BHIM UPI QR across borders. These partnerships will make it easier for Indian travellers to pay for all of their retail purchases at international merchant establishments using the BHIM UPI QR." He went on to say that the Reserve Bank of India has been enabling interactions for the spread of UPI in nations where collaboration is possible.
The government is looking into central bank to central bank cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding, central bank assisted discussion and agreement between the network and the central bank of a government agency, and network to network arrangement, according to the report.
Nepal adopts India's Unified Payments Interface for digital transactions
