NPCI is reportedly building an NFC-based offline mode that lets UPI Lite balances settle payments up to Rs 2,000 with no internet and no PIN. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is working on a new UPI feature that could let users pay for things with zero internet connection at all, not weak signal, not spotty Wi-Fi, but no network whatsoever, according to a Business Standard report cited across several outlets this week.
According to reports, the proposed feature would use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enable offline UPI Lite payments, allowing users to complete transactions even without an internet connection.
Users would first load money into their UPI Lite wallet while connected to the internet.
Payments could then be made by tapping an NFC-enabled smartphone on a compatible point-of-sale (PoS) terminal.
No internet connection or UPI PIN would be required at the time of the transaction.
If the PoS terminal is offline, it would store the payment locally and process it once either the terminal or the phone reconnects to the internet.
Reports peg the transaction limit for this offline NFC mode at Rs 2,000, a jump from the Rs 500 ceiling currently in place for UPI Lite offline transactions. NPCI is said to have set the lower limit as a security safeguard, given that no live PIN check happens during an offline tap.
The use case being floated is straightforward: paying on flights, inside metro tunnels, or in remote pockets with poor or no mobile coverage, situations where regular UPI, and even card payments (some issuers restrict card use in-flight), can fall short. For NPCI, it also plugs a gap where India's cash-lite ambitions still run into patchy connectivity.
Before any rollout, NPCI would need to certify PoS terminal manufacturers so their hardware can support the offline standard, a process reports suggest could begin as early as 2026. NPCI is also said to be coordinating with banks and third-party apps such as PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm to build the feature into their apps.
India already has two offline payment routes: UPI 123PAY, which lets feature-phone users transact via IVR calls and USSD codes, and the existing *99# service. Both, however, still depend on some form of network, a GSM signal or an active phone line. The proposed NFC mode would be the first to work with no network dependency at all, relying purely on short-range wireless between two devices.
NPCI has not made an official announcement yet, and specifics, including the certification timeline and which apps will support it first, are still subject to change.