RBI Raises UPI Lite Wallet Limit to Rs. 5,000, Per-Transaction Cap to Rs.1,000
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the UPI Lite wallet limit to ₹5,000 and the per-transaction limit to Rs. 1,000 to promote the adoption of small-value digital payments via mobile phones.
Previously, the upper limit for offline transactions stood at Rs.500 per transaction, with a cumulative cap of Rs. 2,000/-. The updated limits aim to facilitate seamless digital payments in offline mode under the ‘offline framework,’ which was first issued by the RBI in January 2022.
According to an RBI circular issued on Wednesday, users can now hold up to Rs. 5,000 in their UPI Lite wallets and make transactions up to Rs. 1,000 without requiring a UPI PIN or real-time authentication. This follows the central bank’s announcement in October regarding the enhanced limits.
UPI Lite supports transactions that do not rely on internet or telecom connectivity. While the transactions are offline in nature, users will not receive instant alerts for these payments.
Popular digital payment platforms like Google Pay and PhonePe already offer UPI Lite services.
Currently, users need to manually top up their wallets for such transactions. However, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is developing an auto top-up feature to streamline the process and eliminate manual intervention.
