The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the maximum amount that can be transferred using e-RUPI from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh. It was also announced that the e-RUPI voucher can be used multiple times until the entire amount is redeemed.
The statement was made in order to improve the delivery of benefits under federal and state government programmes. This was stated today at the RBI’s monetary policy review.
The e-RUPI prepaid digital voucher, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and launched in August 2021, is a person-specific and purpose-specific cashless voucher that can be used by individuals, corporations, or governments, according to the central bank’s Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies.
e-RUPI uses the UPI technology and has a voucher limit of Rs 10,000/- per voucher, which can only be used/redeemed once. COVID-19 vaccine is the most common usage of e-RUPI vouchers at the moment.
It is proposed that the amount of e-RUPI vouchers issued by governments be increased to Rs 1,00,000/- per voucher and that the e-RUPI voucher be used many times to promote digital delivery of various government initiatives to recipients (until the amount of the voucher is completely redeemed). Instructions to NPCI will be sent out individually.
“e-Rupi application has mostly centred around lower-value Government to Citizen and Corporate to Employee use-cases, and enable delivery of targeted monetary benefits to folks who are not very digital savvy,” says Harish Prasad, Head Of Banking, India, FIS.
The increase in the e-Rupi voucher cap from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 1 Lac is a major increase, and it appears that the goal is to address certain practical concerns with the current cap, as well as to widen the application to a far larger set of use-cases that can involve values up to Rs. 1 Lac.
“Currently, the use of eRUPI is popular for use-cases like disbursement of government subsidies, primarily for Covid 19 vaccines,” explains Reeju Datta, Co-Founder of Cashfree Payments. Its applicability for lower-value use-cases was similarly limited by the previous ceiling of Rs.10,000. This cap has been raised to Rs. 1 lakh for government use-cases, expanding the scope of the eRUPI issue to include higher-value use-cases.
What exactly is e-Rupi?
e-RUPI is a digital voucher that a beneficiary receives as an SMS or QR code on his phone. It’s a pre-paid voucher that he or she can use at any centre that accepts it.
Individual advantages of e-RUPI
e-RUPI does not require the beneficiary to have a bank account, which is a significant advantage over other digital payment methods. It offers a simple, contactless two-step redemption process that does not necessitate the disclosure of personal information.
e-RUPI is projected to play a significant role in enhancing and increasing the transparency of direct-benefit transfers to individuals from various governments. Because actual issue of vouchers is no longer required, there will be some cost reductions as well.
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