December 8, 2023: The limit for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions to hospitals and educational institutions has been hiked by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per transaction.

The RBI said it will help consumers make online payments of higher amounts for education and healthcare purposes.

The UPI is India's mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer.

It has become hugely popular for retail digital payments in India, and its adoption is increasing at a rapid pace. India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems for fintech innovation and the government and the central bank have been instrumental in driving the globalisation of India's digital payment infrastructure.

The RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, "e-Mandates for making payments of recurring nature have become popular among customers. Under this framework, an additional factor of authentication (AFA) is currently required for recurring transactions exceeding Rs 15,000".