The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) first introduced this feature in September 2021 to allow consumers who do not have a debit card or whose debit card has not been activated to begin using UPI. This was made feasible by connecting NPCI on behalf of the customer's bank to the Unique Identification Authority of India.
Despite the fact that NPCI introduced this service, it was always up to the banks to make it available to their consumers. Previously, NPCI had asked banks to comply in order for this feature to be enabled by December 15, 2021.
However, the date was moved back to March 15, 2022 due to a delay in preparedness as other product enhancements were prioritised. Currently, most banks require their customers to prove their identity using their debit card.
This means that the UPI feature will only be available to individuals who have access to digital banking. The Reserve Bank of India is also pushing for greater UPI penetration. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das unveiled UPI 123Pay, a streamlined account-to-account transfer tool that can be used with feature phones.
Das stated at the event's launch today that UPI on feature phones will benefit individuals in rural regions and allow India's 40 million feature phone users to utilise the payment service. "This decade will see a revolutionary shift in the country's digital payments ecosystem," Das stated, emphasizing that the bank has launched numerous measures to enhance digital transactions in the last three years.
