On August 24, 2023, the Reserve Bank of India announced raising the maximum amount for offline transactions to Rs 500. This choice, which was first made public on August 10, 2023, at the RBI’s bimonthly policy review, has since been made.
It was made clear that even though the ceiling per transaction had been increased to Rs 500, the aggregate limitation remained at Rs 2,000 as a precaution against possible hazards of two-factor authentication bypass. The RBI said that the other guidelines in the framework would still be valid.
The framework, which is applicable to Authorised Payment System Operators (PSOs) and Payment System Participants (PSPs), including acquirers and issuers like banks and non-banks, is intended to simplify small-value digital payments in offline mode using cards, wallets, and mobile devices. Digital payments made offline don’t need an internet connection.
The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) and UPI Lite are two options for offline digital payment transactions for modest amounts.
UPI Light
For UPI Lite, which runs in offline mode, the transaction cap has been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 500. Each immediate transaction must not exceed Rs 500 and may be loaded twice daily up to Rs 2,000. Noteworthy is the fact that these transactions may be completed without a Personal Identification Number (PIN). The central bank’s decision intends to broaden the use of UPI Lite, which was launched in September 2022 to speed up small-value transactions and lower the number of transaction failures caused by technical issues with bank servers.
