Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor said the central bank is focusing on making Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay, the card payments network of the country, “truly global”.

• RBI Governor recently announced that the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) will soon be introduced to facilitate frictionless credit delivery.

The Central Government on Financial Inclusion

India is among the few countries that has launched Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or e-rupee pilots in wholesale and retail segments (digital rupee in the wholesale in November 2022 and in the retail segment in December 2022). 

• Focus on: 
  • Facilitating QR (quick-response) code-based payment acceptance through UPI apps at international merchant locations.
  • Interlinking UPI with Fast Payment Systems (FPS) of other countries for cross-border remittances.
  • Financial Inclusion
  • Deployment of UPI-like infrastructure in foreign jurisdictions
  • Consumer Protection 
  • Cyber Security
  • Sustainable Finance
  • CBDC

Enroll now for UPSC Online Classes

• Earlier Achievements: India is engaged actively in international fora and bilateral agreements to foster economic cooperation with many countries.
  • Global Financial Connectivity: Notable progress has already been made in Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the UAE, Mauritius, Namibia, Peru, France and others.
  • UPI Integration: In 2023, UPI and its equivalent network in Singapore, PayNow, were integrated for enabling faster remittances between citizens of the two countries. 
    • UPI QR code is currently accepted in countries like Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and UAE.
  • Acceptance of RuPay Card: Nepal, Bhutan, Singapore, Mauritius, and UAE.
    • Cards from these countries are also accepted in India. 
• Significance: This segment of the fintech sector attracted about USD 6 billion in investments in the last two years.
  • Digital financial inclusion has unique advantages of scalability and cost-effectiveness.
  • New trinity of JAM-UPI-ULI (Unified Logistics Interface) will be a revolutionary step forward in India’s digital infrastructure journey.

Check Out UPSC NCERT Textbooks From PW Store

DOWNLOAD PDF