NPCI Eyes Offline UPI Tap-and-Pay for Transactions Up to ₹2,000

India's digital payments ecosystem could soon gain another major capability as the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is reportedly working on an offline version of UPI that functions even when internet connectivity is unavailable. 

According to The Business Standard report, the payments body plans to certify point-of-sale (PoS) terminals from leading manufacturers this year, allowing merchants to accept offline UPI payments through compatible devices. 

Offline Payments to Expand Beyond Smartphones 

The proposed feature is designed to work through Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, enabling users to make payments by simply tapping their smartphones on PoS terminals. 

Each transaction will have a ₹2,000 limit, offering an experience similar to contactless card payments. The initiative builds on UPI Lite X, introduced by NPCI in 2023, which enabled offline transfers between two NFC-enabled smartphones.  

The new capability would extend offline payments to merchant PoS machines for the first time. 

New Use Cases for Offline UPI 

The planned rollout is expected to support payments in locations where network access is limited or unavailable, allowing transactions even when both the customer's device and the merchant terminal are offline. 

This could enable digital payments aboard flights, on underground metro networks, and in other low-connectivity environments.  

Before deployment, PoS manufacturers will need NPCI certification to develop applications that support offline UPI acceptance. 

Wallet-Based Authentication 

Instead of requiring real-time internet access, customers are expected to load money into an on-device UPI Lite wallet before making offline purchases. 

The report added that users will not need to enter their UPI PIN during the transaction. Payment details will be captured on the offline terminal and transmitted for verification once internet connectivity is restored. 

Read More: UPI in Spain Soon? India Explores Cross-Border Payment Integration to Make Travel Easier! 

Conclusion 

The proposed offline capability would help narrow one of the remaining differences between UPI and traditional card networks, which already support offline chip-based transactions. It could also overcome operational limitations faced by some airline card payments while enabling secure offline purchases of up to ₹2,000.   

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