UPI Transaction Limit For Taxpayers Increased, Proposal To Allow Delegated UPI Payments

The RBI Governor’s statement today had a couple of important announcements regarding Unified Payment Interface (UPI). 

The transaction limit for UPI is Rs 1 lakh except for certain categories of payments which have higher transaction limits. It has now been decided to enhance the limit for tax payments through UPI from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per transaction. This will further ease tax payments by consumers through UPI.

This will mean that users can now use UPI to pay higher taxes quickly. In December 2023, RBI had increased this limit from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for certain payments like payments to hospitals and educational institutions. The increase in limit is significant as UPI has now become a preferred mode of payment. 

RBI has also proposed to introduce a facility of "Delegated Payments" in UPI. According to the statement, “This would enable an individual (primary user) to allow another individual (secondary user) to make UPI transactions up to a limit from the primary user’s bank account without the need for the secondary user to have a separate bank account linked to UPI. This will further deepen the reach and usage of digital payments.” 

Essentially, this means that even if someone does not have a bank account linked to UPI, they can still make an UPI payment as long as someone else authorises them to do so.