Recent Current Affairs related to UPI

novio, operated by Credilio Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd, has partnered with the Indian Overseas Bank to launch a co-branded RuPay credit card.

PhonePe has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for two operating licenses, marking the first international expansion of the company.

The licenses include Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (RPSCS) and Stored Value Facilities (SVF).

The UPI and Services Committee, led by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has introduced a revised Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework, effective from October 15, 2026. Under the new rules, a 0.4% charge will be applied to UPI transactions above ₹2,000.

A flat MDR of ₹5 per transaction will apply to payments exceeding ₹2,000 in specific sectors like railways, telecommunications, insurance, and fuel. For capital market transactions, including mutual funds and stockbroking, the MDR is set at 0.02% of the transaction value, capped at ₹300.

The Ministry of Finance has notified that banks and payment system providers are prohibited from imposing any direct or indirect charges on UPI transactions up to ₹2,000. The MoF has also extended this prohibition to payments made through RuPay-powered debit cards.

NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has partnered with Singapore-headquartered FOMO Pay to enable the acceptance of UPI Quick Response (QR) codes for merchants across Singapore.

WhatsApp has integrated a native bill payments feature in India to enable users to discover, manage, and pay household and utility bills directly within the application.

The service is powered by the Bharat Connect network, formerly known as the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), which is operated by NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL).

PhonePe, a fintech firm based in Bengaluru, has launched its first local operations in the UAE. The company has secured two licenses to offer consumer payment instruments and to provide e-payment acceptance infrastructure for merchants.

PhonePe has launched ‘UPI 123Pay’, a service enabling feature phone users to conduct UPI transactions without internet connectivity. The service uses a Short Message Service (SMS)-based system to ensure secure transactions even in low network coverage areas.

This initiative aims to promote financial inclusion by providing digital payment capabilities to the non-smartphone user demographic in India.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has completed 10 years of operations.

In FY26, the share of UPI in the digital payments of India is recorded at 84%, the annual transaction volume of UPI reached 24,162 crore transactions, with the total transaction value estimated at ₹314 lakh crore.

President Droupadi Murmu has granted assent to the ‘Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026’ and a legislation amending the ‘Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007’.

The ‘Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026’ replaces the ‘Income-tax (IT) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026’. The Act provides exemptions from income tax on interest and capital gains (arising from the sale, exchange, or transfer) to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for their investments in government securities.

The Qatar-India Postal Remittance Service, utilizing PosTransfer powered by the UPI, has been operationalized in Doha, Qatar to facilitate faster, secure, and cost-effective cross-border remittance services between both countries.

IndusInd Bank and dining platform EazyDiner have jointly launched a lifetime-free co-branded credit card named 'EazyDiner IndusInd Bank Platinum RuPay Credit Card'.

The card offers dining discounts, entertainment benefits, and UPI payment functionality.

SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd has partnered with Google Pay to launch a co-branded credit card named 'Google Pay Flex SBI Card'. The card is designed to make daily spending more rewarding for users.

Eroute Technologies Pvt Ltd has launched India's first 'Flexi Benefits Basket' on the UPI via its OmniCard platform.

It is an employee-controlled digital wallet designed for tax-efficient spending across multiple benefit categories. The platform is built on a RBI-licensed Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) infrastructure and is accepted at 60 million UPI-enabled merchant outlets.

Enkash, a business payments and spend management platform, has become the first company in India to launch UPI-based payments on meal cards.

This feature allows employees to make direct payments from their meal card balance by scanning eligible UPI Quick Response (QR) codes at food and grocery merchants.

Dilip Asbe, the MD & CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has been appointed to the Supervisory Board of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

It is to be noted that the Supervisory Board comprises 12 members, with a provision to expand to 15 members in exceptional cases.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with HSBC India and JPMorgan Payments to simplify the UPI transaction process for Indian travelers abroad.

These collaborations will introduce real-time foreign exchange (FX) conversion and settlement, allowing users to view the exact transaction amount in ₹ before finalizing their payments.

jUMPP, an AI-driven fintech platform, has received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to operate as a Third Party Application Provider (TPAP). This authorization allows the platform to integrate UPI payment capabilities into its application.

PM Narendra Modi has visited France to strengthen the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership, focusing on trade, technology, and security. He held bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron in Nice and participated in the 52nd G7 Outreach Summit as a guest partner.

PM Modi and President Macron co-launched the 'Bharat Innovates' initiative in Nice, featuring participation from over 120 Indian startups. At the VivaTech 2026 expo in Paris, the largest technology exhibition in Europe, India was designated as the 'AI Country of Focus'.

The visit resulted in 13 key outcomes, including the adoption of the 'India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030', the establishment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on AI Governance, and the expansion of the UPI in France. PM Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora during the 'Bonjour Modi' event held in Paris.

Nepal Foreign Minister (FM) Shisir Khanal visited India at the invitation of Union Minister S Jaishankar to review bilateral relations. During the visit to New Delhi, he held talks with S Jaishankar and the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

A key outcome of the discussion was the launch of a Person-to-Person (P2P) linkage between the UPI of India and the National Payments Interface (NPI) of Nepal. Furthermore, 84 reconstruction projects funded by India, initiated after the 2015 earthquake, were formally handed over to the Government of Nepal.