After the huge success of Unified Payment Interface (UPI),Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday dismissed criticism from certain quarters by saying that Its creator National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI) has become a monopoly and also proclaimed that there is a large space for the payment app to grow and it can become the world leader in payments.
UPI has been a runaway success as it is already operational in some countries, including Singapore and the UAE. RBI is in discussion with more central banks in other countries as well to extend its reach.
While speaking at the BFSI seminar organised by Daily mint,Das said,”UPI has already become a digital public infrastructure. In fact it has to grow even further. I would say this is the best payments system in the world as of now and I wish it becomes the world leader in it.”
RBI is not against of having a rival to NPCI, and in fact it had sought applications for the same. However, none of the programmes that have come to them so far have had anything new to offer,he added.
“In fact, all the proposals looked almost a copy of what NPCI is already doing with some minor modifications…So we haven’t taken an official view and as and when we do that we will clear our stand on the idea of creating a rival to NPCI,” Das said.
Answering to query on the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which is RBI’s answer to the individual digital currencies, Das said, RBI is already working on the adaptability of the digital rupee so that it can also be used for particular payments like government subsidies or cash payouts.
“Currently, we are moving towards money market operations (in the wholesale CBDC area) and slowly we will be adding new segments and areas where CBDC operations will do. It’s a pilot project. We are in no great hurry because after all we are creating a new currency system,” Das said.
UPI has already crossed volume of 100 billion mark on monthly basis, certain time ago.
