India and Nepal quietly flipped the switch on a new peer-to-peer remittance link between India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payments Interface (NPI) on 6 June, and the Indian finance ministry formally announced the launch on 11 June. The system allows residents of the two countries to send up to NPR 100,000 (about ₹62,000) instantly via mobile apps without SWIFT charges or cash-exchange hassles. For the two million Indian citizens who cross into Nepal annually—and the estimated 600,000 Nepalese working in India—the corridor eliminates a major pain-point: carrying wads of cash or searching for money-transfer kiosks that levy fees as high as 7 percent. Travellers can now scan any QR code that accepts NPI or UPI and pay in local currency with realtime FX conversion at inter-bank rates, improving expense management for short-term assignees, aid workers and mountaineering groups. NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) built the interface with Nepal Clearing House Ltd; the pilot partners are India’s Axis Bank and Nepal’s Global IME Bank, with others slated to onboard within weeks. Merchants in Kathmandu’s Thamel district report a jump in Indian QR payments for hotel deposits, mirroring the uptake seen when UPI went live in Bhutan in 2025. From a compliance standpoint, transactions are capped at ₹1 lakh per user per day and are covered by India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme reporting rules. Corporate finance teams should update travel-expense policies to allow employees to use personal UPI apps in Nepal—but remind them to retain screenshot receipts, as paper slips are no longer issued. NIPL says similar cross-border corridors with Sri Lanka and Mauritius will go live later this year, signalling that South Asia’s mobility ecosystem is moving toward a cash-light, QR-first model.
Source: Business Standard
