RBI ups cap on e-RUPI vouchers to Rs. 1 lakh

Mumbai: RBI's proposal to increase the cap on e-RUPI vouchers has been welcomed by the experts and the industry stakeholders. An announcement to this effect was made by the RBI governor, Dr Shaktikanta Das in his post RBI policy briefing here on Thursday.

Currently the use of eRUPI is popular for use-cases like disbursal of government benefits, primarily for Covid-19 vaccinations. The former cap of Rs10k also restricted its use for smaller value use-cases. This cap is now enhanced for government use-cases upto Rs1 Lakh, broadening the scope of eRUPI issue to larger value use-cases.

Commenting on it, Reeju Datta, co-founder, Cashfree Payments, said: "Currently the use of eRUPI is popular for use-cases like disbursal of government benefits, primarily for Covid-19 vaccinations. The former cap of Rs10k also restricted its use for smaller value use-cases. This cap is now enhanced for government use-cases upto Rs1 Lakh, broadening the scope of eRUPI issue to larger value use-cases."

Jaya Vaidhyanathan, CEO, BCT Digital, says, "Given that an important aim of this system is efficient direct benefit transfers to citizens, the payment system needed to be more expansive. With a higher limit and allowing multiple transactions (say, Rs 1,200 transaction at a hospital, followed by Rs 20,000 fertilizer subsidy and Rs 15,000 e-vehicle subsidy), today's announcement hints at a larger role of the e-RUPI system in the economy."

eRUPI's key benefit for governments is in enabling penetration among the unbanked and feature phone users, allowing issue without needing the recipient's bank account or KYC.

The proposal will further help in the delivery of various government schemes to the beneficiaries more efficiently. In addition to govt issued vouchers, extending this new cap to other B2C use-cases should also be considered, by improving the acquiring infrastructure for eRUPI and integrating it with existing POS systems, Datta added.

This will also encourage its use by private corporates and for other customer segments as well, such as larger value corporate gifting, transit/payroll/student cards and forex travel cards. The government-sponsored, secure 'gift card' program was launched with good intentions but with limited scope (One time use only and cap of Rs 10,000).

This will reduce leakage of funds in welfare schemes, and help banks gather customer data that can be used for financial inclusion as well as cross-selling of products to existing customers, she added.