Within six months of its launch, RBI has decided to increase the transaction limit of e-RUPI vouchers from the current Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
The apex bank has also expanded its usage. Now e-RUPI voucher holders can withdraw the amount in small denominations until they have withdrawn the full amount.
Suppose an e-RUPI voucher has a prepaid amount of Rs 10,000 to be spent for hospital expenses. The patient can use the voucher on multiple occasions to pay for the hospital room, medicines, tests, etc. till the whole Rs 10,000 is spent.
“To facilitate digital delivery of various government schemes to the beneficiaries, it is proposed to increase the cap on the amount for e-RUPI vouchers issued by Governments to Rs. 1,00,000 per voucher and allow use of the e-RUPI voucher multiple times (until the amount of the voucher is completely redeemed),” RBI Governor, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in the bi-monthly ‘Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies’.
Till now there are 11 banks that have come on board to facilitate transactions via the use of e-RUPI prepaid vouchers.
What is e-RUPI
e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless digital payment tool, which was developed and kicked off by National Payments Corporation of India in August last year.
Its main purpose is to make the government-led monetary benefits that are meant for individual beneficiaries a transparent process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the launch last year, said that the e-RUPI voucher is going to play a huge role in making Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) more effective in digital transactions in the country.
How is e-RUPI used
Users enrolled with government schemes can receive the monthly benefits via e-RUPI, which can either be a QR code or SMS on their mobile phones.
e-RUPI has two limitations, which in hindsight are its safety features: these e-RUPI vouchers can be used only by the person who receives them. They come preloaded with the money that the beneficiary is supposed to receive so one can only use the amount that the vouchers have.
The other limitation is that it can be used for the specific purpose it is intended for. For example, an e-RUPI voucher meant to buy ration can’t be used to pay for school fees.
Advantages of e-RUPI
Since the genesis of e-RUPI was done keeping the unbanked population of India, the beneficiaries need not have a bank account to use e-RUPI vouchers. The person with the voucher just needs to scan the QR code and share the OTP with the cashier and the payment gets done without giving out any personal details.
Users who don’t own a smartphone can also use it. Instead of a QR code, they will receive the e-RUPI voucher in the form of an SMS. They just need to show the message at the counter and then share the OTP that they will receive.
For businesses, it is highly useful as there is no hassle of dealing with cash. Moreover, since the voucher is prepaid the possibility of transaction failure is next to none.
While currently, its intended use case is limited to hospitals, the government plans to increase the ambit to other departments as well.
