E-RUPI in the Digital Payment Ecosystem
NPCI introduced the e-RUPI, which is a prepaid voucher/ prepaid instrument) developed on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform. The prepaid voucher is will be in the form of QR code or will be SMS string-based[1] and can be received on a feature phone as well[2]. The voucher would be generated by a bank at the request of a sponsor, who is the account holder with the bank, and can be redeemed by beneficiaries at specific designated merchants.
E-RUPI has the following noteworthy characteristics:
- It can be issued by banks authorized by RBI to issue PPIs and who are participating as Payment Service Providers (“Issuers”) in the UPI ecosystem;
- Businesses, corporates and State and Union Government departments can be account holders (“Sponsors”) for the issuance of e-RUPI.
- Only full-KYC compliant Sponsors can request the creation of an e-RUPI.
- E-RUPI vouchers will have a defined validity as per the use case, subject to a maximum validity period of one year from the date of issuance and a maximum limit of Rs. 10,000.
- An e-RUPI is not transferrable.
- Usage is limited to one-time use only and e-RUPI is non-reloadable. On expiry of the instrument, the Issuer will reconcile the unused amounts and credit the balance to the Sponsor’s account within three days.
- An e-RUPI would be shared with the e-RUPI beneficiary only in a digital format, i.e., QR code or SMS String. No paper or print formats are permitted.
- An e-RUPI can only be redeemed for the purchase of goods and services at designated merchants bearing a valid Merchant Category Code (MCC), as defined by the Issuer at the time of issuance of an e-RUPI. It may be used to enable services such as COVID vaccines, donations, gift vouchers, etc.
- Redemption/usage of an e-RUPI does not require the user to possess a plastic card, download a mobile application or use internet banking.
- A single mobile number can be issued a maximum of 10 e-RUPI vouchers.
It is important not to confuse the e-RUPI with the blockchain based digital currency that is currently being considered by the RBI.[3]