Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on June 7, 2024 announced that users of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) Lite will be allowed to auto replenish their UPI Lite Wallets using the e-mandate framework.
UPI Lite is a vertical of UPI where money is stored in a UPI wallet to handle low-value transactions below Rs 500. An e-mandate is a standing instruction from the customer that allows them to make any type of recurring debit transaction without human intervention each time the transaction is made.
Further, RBI also plans to provide users of FASTag and National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) the provision to add balance to their cards using e-mandate framework automatically when the balance falls below a threshold. UPI-enabled apps are currently used for making recurring payments, such as mobile postpaid bills, utility bills, OTT subscriptions, among others.
“To encourage wider adoption of UPI Lite, it is now proposed to bring it under the e-mandate framework by introducing a facility for customers to automatically replenish their UPI Lite wallets if the balance goes below the threshold limit set by them. This will further enhance the ease of making small value digital payments,” Shaktikanta Das said.
At present, the UPI Lite facility allows a customer to load his/her UPI Lite wallet up to Rs 2,000 and make payments up to Rs 500 in one transaction. Since the funds remain with the customer (funds move from his/her account to wallet), the requirement of additional authentication or pre-debit notification is proposed to be dispensed with to make the process seamless, RBI said in a release, adding that guidelines on this proposal will be issued shortly.
Das said that it has now been proposed to include payments, such as replenishment of balances in Fastag and NCMC, too, which are recurring in nature but without any fixed periodicity, in the e-mandate framework.
“This will enable customers to automatically replenish the balances in Fastag, NCMC, etc. if the balance goes below the threshold limit set by them. This will enhance convenience in making travel or mobility related payments,” Das said.
At present, e-mandate is allowed on recurring payments with fixed periodicity such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc, with customer notified at least 24 hours before the actual debit from his or her account. RBI has proposed to extend e-mandate to payments, such as replenishment of balances in Fastag, NCMC, etc. which are recurring in nature, but without any fixed periodicity. The pre-debit notification before 24 hours is also exempted for NCMC and Fastag e-mandates. The automatic replenishment will be done when the balance in Fastag or NCMC falls below a threshold amount set by the customer.
