A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
The revolutionary Indian digital payment system - Unified Payment Interface (UPI) - is now available in the UAE for Indian residents and tourists.
NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has partnered with Network International and Mashreq Bank’s Neo Pay to enable and expand UPI payment acceptance across their vast merchant network in the UAE, according to Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL, which is a global arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCL).
The UPI facility, which is an instant payment system, operates on the basis of linking phone number to bank account and transfers money through a QR code via an app such as Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm etc. Several vendors in the UAE started displaying the QR codes at the counters so that those who have a UPI facility can pay through their mobile phones.
Speaking to Aletihad, Shukla said: “UPI acceptance is being rolled out progressively, covering a wide range of establishments from airports, retail stores and dining outlets, as well as tourist and leisure attractions including Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates”
UPI is driving the rapid digitalisation of transactions in India, driving cash out of daily business activities. Roadside vendors, hawkers, street-food shops proudly display the QR code in front of the shop. Those of you who buy small things can pay by scanning this QR code through an app on the phone.
In the UAE, tourists and residents who have Indian accounts that are linked to a phone number can access this facility and make payments at stores, restaurants and supermarkets that have adopted the UPI system.
Non-resident Indians (NRIs) have two types of accounts –NRO – non-resident ordinary accounts where NRIs can deposit their Indian earnings and NRE – non-resident external – where NRIs can deposit their earnings from outside the country. Both these accounts can be linked to the UPI system through their mobile number after the recent policy changes.
Now the UAE numbers linked to the NRE and NRO accounts too can be used for making the payments in the UAE and India. Confirming this, Shukla said: “Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in the UAE can link their UAE mobile number to an NRE/NRO bank account in India and make UPI payments.”
This enables Indian expats to use the UPI to make the payments through their UAE numbers when they are in India. “UAE residents, while visiting India, can use UPI One World app to experience UPI merchant payments during their stay in India,” Shukla added.
Indian tourists can do shopping in the UAE without having to carry dirhams, which need to be bought at the money exchanges at airports and other places. There is a seamless conversion from rupees to dirhams. “The plan is to create interoperability with India, to cater to cross-border flows in area of merchant payments and remittances,” Shukla said.
How much does a visiting Indian tourist spend using the UPI system? There are regulations governing the conversion of Indian money into foreign exchange. Can a tourist go on a shopping free in the UAE and expect a seamless conversion of his Indian money into the UAE dirhams? Shukla said: “Currently, daily limit for payments in the UAE is Rs100,000 (approximately Dh4,300). There are no specific monthly/yearly limits.” But banks also use their own internal risk framework to monitor these transactions for authorisation purposes, Shukla added.
Currently, UPI is accepted in the UAE, Singapore, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Mauritius and France. “NPCI International is also working with several foreign central banks and governments to help them in developing sovereign, interoperable and robust payment systems like UPI,” Shukla said.
India is in touch with multiple stakeholders to expand UPI acceptance in the GCC region.”Recently we signed an agreement with Qatar National Bank to enable UPI in Qatar,” Shukla informed.
UPI currently processes 80% of retail digital payments in India. “UPI is the largest real-time payments system globally. As per a recent ACI Worldwide report, 49% of the world’s real-time payments were made in India in 2023,” Shukla added.
“In July alone, the platform registered over 14 billion transactions. This impressive volume underscores UPI’s reliability, efficiency, and widespread adoption.”
Retail stores and supermarkets in the UAE that are popular with Indian expats are taking steps to roll out the UPI system. Al Maya Supermarkets recently set the ball rolling by making the first UPI transaction. Kamal Vachani, the director of Indian supermarket giant and Yatin Patel, Deputy Consul General of India, were present when the inaugural transaction was rolled out.
“We are thrilled to be at the forefront of this innovative payment solution in the UAE. The introduction of UPI will not only enhance the shopping experience for our customers but also strengthen the economic ties between India and the UAE,” Vachani said at the time of inauguration in July.
This unique payment should go a long way in boosting tourist spending as Indians constitute the largest source market for tourists visiting the UAE. Over 2 million India tourists visited the UAE in 2023 and an estimated 3.5 million Indians live in India, making them the largest expatriate group.