BHIM - UPI Launched in Bhutan

• 14 Jul 2021

Why in News

The Union Minister of Finance of India along with her counterpart, the Finance Minister of Bhutan has jointly launched Bharat Interface for Money - Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI) in Bhutan.

• The payment system was launched by NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), in partnership with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • Bhutan is the first country to adopt UPI standards for its Quick Response (QR) code, and the first country in our immediate neighbourhood to accept mobile based payments through the BHIM App.
  • It is also the second country after Singapore to have BHIM-UPI acceptance at merchant locations.
  • Bhutan will also become the only country to both issue and accept RuPay cards as well as accept BHIM-UPI.
• Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI):
  
  • BHIM is developed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).
  • It is an initiative to enable fast, secure, reliable cashless payments through the mobile phone.
  • BHIM is based on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to facilitate e-payments directly through banks.
  • It is interoperable with other Unified Payment Interface (UPI) applications, and bank accounts.
    
    • Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system, allowing users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts without disclosing details of one’s bank account to the other party.
• Advantages:
  
  • The simple, safe, cost-effective mobile-based payments system has become one of the most prominent forms of digital payments.
  • The payment infrastructures of the two countries are seamlessly connected and will benefit a large number of tourists and businessmen from India who travel to Bhutan each year.
    
    • This will enhance the ease of living and ease of travelling through cashless transactions at the touch of a button.
  • In 2020, UPI enabled commerce worth USD 457 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 15% of India’s GDP.

RuPay Card Scheme

• RuPay is the first-of-its-kind domestic Debit and Credit Card payment network of India.
• The name, derived from the words ‘Rupee and ‘Payment’, emphasises that it is India’s very own initiative for Debit and Credit Card payments.
• The card can also be used for transactions in Singapore, Bhutan, UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

• NPCI, an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• It is a “Not for Profit” Company under the provisions of Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act 2013), with an intention to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.

Source: TH