Foreign delegates visiting India for the G20 Summit in New Delhi can now use e-Rupee and UPI to make payments without having an Indian bank account.
Kashyap Balakrishnan, General Manager in the department of payments and settlements at RBI, told Business Today at the central bank’s pavilion at G20: “Foreign nationals did not have an option to use UPI or other digital payment systems when they visited India. But now, they can use both UPI and e-Rupee for payments in India.”
“The first option is UPI One World. Through it, even without an account in an Indian bank account, foreign delegates can make digital payments,” he explained.
It is worth noting that payments through UPI One World are not limited to foreign delegates attending the G20 Summit. The service was launched in February earlier this year and caters exclusively to foreign visitors in India. It functions as a prepaid payment instrument (PPI) integrated with UPI services.
Another option that foreign delegates can use for digital payments is e-Rupee, India’s central bank digital currency, which is issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
An RBI official present at the central bank’s pavilion noted that four banks have signed up to make separate apps for foreign delegates through which they can use the e-Rupee for payments in India.
“ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and State Bank of India have come up with separate applications for foreign delegates through which they can make payments without having an account in India,” he added.
The official further explained, “The delegates will get a 10-digit voucher code, when they sign up using that code, there will be some sum pre-loaded for them so that they can make payments.”
All these developments have been made possible due to RBI’s circular that came out in February this year to allow access to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and foreign nationals visiting India.
