Sri Lanka and Mauritius to get UPI services

Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services will be launched in Sri Lanka and Mauritius on Monday.

"The launch will enable the availability of UPI settlement services for Indian nationals travelling to Sri Lanka and Mauritius as well as for Mauritian nationals travelling to India," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

Along with UPI, RuPay card services will be rolled out in Mauritius. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth are expected to attend the historic launch via video conferencing tomorrow at 1 PM.

"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," The statement added.

India has been actively promoting the expansion of its digital payment systems, such as UPI, to enable convenient cross-border transactions.

UPI is a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It allows for instant inter-bank peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions.

Earlier this month, France became the first European country to adopt India's UPI Payment System. NPCI partnered with Lyra, a French e-commerce and proximity company, through its international arm, NPCI International Payments, to ensure the acceptance of UPI payments in the country.

The UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal are among the countries that have adopted the UPI payment system.

In October, NPCI International Payments Ltd, signed an agreement with Al Etihad Payments to enable cross-border transactions. The memorandum of understanding focused on developing the UAE's domestic card scheme using India's RuPay debit and credit card infrastructure, the official further stated.