Special news related to UPI has come out for the common people. Now soon UPI payment can be done easily without internet. According to the Business Standard report, three people with knowledge of the matter say that India is developing a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) facility, through which customers will be able to make payments at the merchant’s point-of-sale (PoS) terminal even when both the devices do not have internet.
According to the report, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) may start certifying PoS devices of major terminal manufacturing companies in 2026. The proposed system will use Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology and payments up to Rs 2,000 can be made by tapping an NFC-enabled phone on an offline terminal.
The report says that this feature is designed for places where connectivity is not available or not reliable, which includes airplane cabins and underground train networks. Customers will first load money into the UPI Lite wallet on their device when connected to the internet. After this, they will be able to use that balance on the offline terminal without entering the UPI PIN.
Certification required from NPCI
A person from a fintech firm with knowledge of the matter said in a media report that PoS companies will need certification from NPCI to accept UPI payments in offline settings. After getting the certification, they can make an application based on it. PoS terminals are merchant-owned hardware typically used to accept debit and credit card, prepaid card, and mobile-wallet payments. Under the proposed system, the terminal will store the payment authorization and forward it when connectivity is restored.
Another person said in the BS report that this is an NFC-based use-case for UPI apps. You will tap using the app. Even if the terminal is offline, you can make payment up to Rs 2,000. This will capture the authorization and send it later for verification when the network is restored. According to the person, banks and third-party UPI application providers are also working to add this feature to their apps.
What will change with UPI Lite X?
The proposed feature is not the first use of NFC by NPCI or the first documented method of offline merchant-payment. However, it will extend such payments to certified traditional PoS terminals. NPCI introduced UPI Lite X in September 2023 so that transactions can be done even in the absence of mobile connectivity. Unlike UPI Lite, which does not require real-time access to the remitting bank’s core banking system but generally requires connectivity, Lite
NPCI’s January 2024 UPI Lite The difference in capabilities just described is acceptance hardware: the merchant will receive payments through an NPCI-certified PoS terminal, even when that terminal is disconnected.
NPCI’s BHIM-UPI branding guidelines, updated in June 2026, also include design specifications for NFC-enabled static and dynamic QR codes and soundboxes with “Scan or Tap to Pay” instructions. Those guidelines include merchant-facing presentation, but no specific offline PoS certification program has been announced.
How is the limit of Rs 2,000 different from RBI rules?
The stated limit of Rs 2,000 per payment is different from the limit as per the recently published rules of the Reserve Bank of India. The RBI’s offline digital-payment framework, which was launched in January 2022 and last updated in December 2024, caps a normal offline transaction at Rs 500 and the aggregate outstanding offline limit on any instrument at Rs 2,000. It separately allows UPI Lite payment of up to Rs 1,000, with a total balance limit of Rs 5,000.
RBI’s ‘National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2025-30’, released in 2026, specifically specifies a per-transaction limit of ₹500, daily aggregate limit of ₹4,000 and maximum balance limit of ₹2,000 for UPI Lite X.
The capacity limit mentioned in the Business Standard report is ₹2,000 per transaction. NPCI has not yet published the operating rules for the described PoS program explaining how this limit will fit into the existing RBI framework.
Under the current RBI framework, offline payments require explicit customer approval and can be completed without any additional authentication factors. Issuers will be required to notify customers once transaction data is received, while the acquiring institution will be responsible for technical or security issues caused by the merchant. Customers will continue to have the right to avail the benefits of RBI’s Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
UPI’s increasing transaction base
According to official product data from NPCI, in June 2026, UPI processed 22.72 billion transactions worth Rs 28.92 lakh crore. The average does not indicate how many individual transactions would fall below the proposed Rs 2,000 limit, as value-wise distribution is not reported in NPCI’s monthly product data. The second person cited above told BS that some card issuing companies have banned the card from being used on airlines due to operational issues. This is also creating an opportunity for UPI, because initially the transaction limit is less. This is a perfect use case.
Leave a Reply