NRIs from countries like the US, Canada, the UK, UAE, Singapore, and Australia can now use UPI to send money to family or make payments in India without incurring fees. The National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) has enabled this by allowing NRIs with non-resident external (NRE) or non-resident ordinary (NRO) accounts to use UPI linked to their international mobile numbers for transactions, as reported by *Mint*.
This development allows NRIs to send funds to family members or pay for services in India directly through UPI, offering a free alternative to traditional wire transfers. NRIs can utilize UPI even when traveling to India or other countries, adding flexibility to their financial transactions.
Supported countries for this service include the US, Canada, the UK, UAE, Singapore, Australia, among others. Certain banks now offer UPI services specifically for NRIs. These include AU Small Finance Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, City Union Bank, DBS Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, Punjab National Bank, and South Indian Bank.
Popular apps that enable UPI payments for users include BHIM AU (from AU Small Finance Bank), FedMobile (by Federal Bank), iMobile (from ICICI Bank), BHIM Indus Pay (by IndusInd Bank), SIB Mirror+ (by South Indian Bank), and PhonePe.
There is a daily transaction cap of ₹1 lakh, with new users limited to ₹5,000 for the first 24 hours. NRIs can transfer funds between NRE and NRO accounts, as well as with Indian resident accounts, but transfers from NRO to NRE accounts are not allowed.
For those with multiple bank accounts, each account must have its own UPI ID. Joint account holders can use UPI, but it is limited to the primary account holder. Additionally, NRIs can receive payments via the “send to account” option on the UPI app, even if they are not registered on UPI.
Setting Up UPI for NRIs
To activate UPI, NRIs need to link their international mobile numbers to their NRE or NRO bank accounts, download a compatible UPI app like iMobile or PhonePe, complete the onboarding process, verify their mobile number, create a unique UPI ID or virtual payment address (VPA), select their bank account, and submit the details to set up their UPI profile, as stated in the report.
