During the monetary policy announcement on Friday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced two major changes concerning the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), impacting the online payments landscape.Das specified that the transaction limit for UPI payments in certain categories will be increased. The limit for various categories of UPI transactions has been reviewed from time to time. It is now proposed to enhance the UPI transaction limit for payment to hospitals and educational institutions from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per transaction. This will help the consumers to make UPI payments of higher amounts for education and healthcare purposes, he explained. The previous limit for these types of transactions was Rs 1 lakh, and the proposed increase is aimed at easing the transaction process for larger amounts in the healthcare and education sectors.Moreover, there is an uplift in the ceiling for e-Mandates, associated with recurring payments, now up to Rs 1 lakh. This change encompasses mutual fund subscriptions, insurance premium subscriptions, and credit card repayments. Das highlighted the growing popularity of e-Mandates for recurring payments among consumers. The current system mandates additional authentication for transactions above Rs 15,000. The proposed enhancement to a Rs 1 lakh limit per transaction aims to boost the efficiency and appeal of e-mandates, particularly for mutual fund, insurance, and credit card payments.
