New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday announced an increase in pre-transaction limits for UPI 123Pay and UPI Lite payment mechanisms.

With new guidelines, the users will soon be able to do low-value UPI transactions of up to Rs 1,000 without entering the PIN. Earlier, the limit was Rs 500.

The limit for UPI Lite balance has also been raised to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000. UPI Lite is available on Paytm, BHIM App, Google Pay and other such payments apps. Several banks are already offering the UPI Lite facility.

UPI Lite was introduced in September 2022 to enable small value payments in a quick and seamless manner through an on-device wallet.

According to Ramakrishnan Ramamurthy, Chief Delivery and Operations Officer–India, Worldline, higher levels of commerce enablement are needed for last-mile coverage.

“To achieve this, the convenience of UPI 123 and UPI Lite has now gained wider reach and acceptance. Increasing the transaction limits is a positive initiative that will help enhance penetration from both transaction and value perspectives,” he said in a statement.

Venkatraman Venkateswaran, Group President and CFO, Federal Bank, said that increase in per transaction limit for UPI/UPI Lite wallet is a welcome move.

The RBI recently introduced Auto-Replenishment of UPI Lite Wallet. The step is aimed at wider adoption of UPI Lite by bringing it under the e-mandate framework.

This will further enhance the ease of making small value digital payments,” according to the RBI Governor.

UPI123Pay was launched by NPCI in March 2022. It is an instant payment system for feature phone users who can use UPI payment service in a safe and secure manner. This facility is now available in 12 languages.