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Sri Lanka, Mauritius will get UPI services, PM Modi to be virtually present
President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth will also attend the video conference.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the launch of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services in Sri Lanka and Mauritius, and also RuPay card services in Mauritius, on 12 February, 2024 at 1pm via video conferencing, the ministry of external affairs said in a press release on Sunday. President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth will also attend the video conference.
The launch of UPI in Sri Lanka and Mauritius is expected to benefit thousands of people through a faster and seamless digital transaction experience and enhance digital connectivity. UPI settlement services will become available for Indian nationals travelling to Sri Lanka and Mauritius as well as for Mauritian nationals travelling to India.
"The extension of RuPay card services in Mauritius will enable Mauritian banks to issue cards based on RuPay mechanism in Mauritius and facilitate usage of RuPay Card for settlements both in India and Mauritius," said the ministry of external affairs.
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What is UPI ?
According to the official website of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI is "a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience."
UPI was first launched on 11th April 2016 by Dr Raghuram G Rajan, the then RBI Governor, in Mumbai.
Success story of India's UPI mechanism
As a Fintech technology, UPI is a major hit in India and has played a major role in the country's digital payments success story. Unified Payments Interface has more than 380 million (38 crore) users in India, as per NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL). In January, as many as 12.2 billion (1220 crore) transactions were made through the facility.
Recently, India's UPI payment system was launched in France. Tourists can now book tickets for the Eiffel Tower in Paris through the UPI mechanism.
