The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the transaction limit for offline digital payments through UPI Lite. The move can benefit many people, especially those who live in places with poor internet connectivity. UPI Lite transactions are offline in the sense that there is no need to enter a UPI PIN while making payments.
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What is UPI Lite?
UPI Lite is designed to enable instant, low-value offline payments which form the bulk of retail payments made across India. Customers can use the replenishable balance to make cashless payments for any low-value item from Kirana stores, pharmacies, restaurants, shops, fuel retail outlets, and more. Moreover, customers will have an uncluttered passbook, as LITE transactions will not be captured in the bank passbook.
The initial framework, which was unveiled in January 2022 and revised in August 2023, was designed to make small-value digital payments easier to make offline payments. For low-value purchases, UPI Lite makes it possible to carry out transactions without internet connectivity, making payments quicker and easier.
Two UPI Lite transaction limits hiked
The RBI has hiked the per-transaction limits on UPI Lite from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. The overall wallet limit of UPI Lite has also been raised from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000.
What are the benefits of UPI Lite?
UPI Lite provides round-the-clock availability for customers, better small-value payment management, and is also convenient to track. Single-click payments are possible using UPI Lite, and customers can manage their spends with daily limits and there is no worry of hiding UPI Pin in crowded places for small-value payments.
“The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to increase the UPI Lite wallet limit to ₹5,000 and enhance the per-transaction limit to Rs 1,000 marks a significant milestone in fostering a more inclusive digital payment ecosystem. This move directly addresses the needs of individuals in regions with inconsistent internet access by enabling faster, more convenient offline transactions, particularly for small-value payments,” said Dilip Modi, Founder, and CEO, Spice Money.
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How to create a UPI Lite account on Google Pay?
Step 1: Download and open the Google Pay app. UPI Lite is a sub category within the Google Pay app.
Step 2: At the top right, tap on your profile picture, click on UPI Lite tab
Step 3: Enter the amount you want to add.
Step 4: You can add up to Rs 5,000
Step 5: Enter your UPI PIN.
You can only create one UPI Lite account on Google Pay. Similarly, you can set up UPI accounts on other apps such as Paytm, PhonePe etc.
