The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI ) has permitted the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem to allow the transfer of funds between non-resident external (NRE) accounts and other permissible accounts sanctioned under the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) rules.
In a circular on January 10, 2023, NCPI informed the participating UPI members about its decision.
“Crediting/debiting non-resident (NR) accounts in UPI and IMPS domestic transaction” will be allowed “as per the extant FEMA regulation and adherence to the guidelines/instruction issued by concerned regulatory departments of RBI (Reserve Bank of India),” it said.
“We have been receiving requirements from the ecosystem with regards to the non-resident (NR) accounts and other permissible accounts having international numbers to be allowed to transact in UPI . And there has been customer demand in the ecosystem to enable UPS for their NR accounts having international numbers and experience the seamless and instant journey of UPI,” the circular reads.
Accordingly, the NPCI has asked the member banks to ensure it is only allowed as permitted under FEMA regulations. It also asked them to adhere to the guidelines issued by the RBI’s regulatory departments from time to time regarding safeguards against anti-money laundering, terror financing, and compliance validation checks.
NCPI notified that it would initially enable UPI transactions from mobile numbers with the country codes of Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the UK, adding that it will extend the same facility for other country codes in the near future.
“All onboarding/transaction level checks as per extant UPI guidelines will be applicable for such accounts (for example, cooling period, risk rules, etc.). All the members are hereby advised to comply with the above directives by 30th April 2023,” it said.
