National payment Corporation of India (NPCI)

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organization for operating retail payments
and settlement systems in India, is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’
Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a
robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.

Considering the utility nature of the objects of NPCI, it has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit”
Company under the provisions of Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act
2013), with an intention to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as
well as electronic payment and settlement systems. The Company is focused on bringing innovations in
the retail payment systems through the use of technology for achieving greater efficiency in operations
and widening the reach of payment systems.

The ten core promoter banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of
Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank N. A. and HSBC. In
2016 the shareholding was broad-based to 56 member banks to include more banks representing all
sectors.

Our Journey

NPCI, during its journey, has made a significant impact on the retail payment systems in the country.
Dedicated to the nation by our former President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, endorsed by the Hon’ble Prime
Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and later made the card of choice for the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana, RuPay is now a known name.

RuPay

RuPay is an Indigenously developed Payment System – designed to meet the expectation and needs of the
Indian consumer, banks and merchant eco-system. RuPay supports the issuance of debit, credit and
prepaid cards by banks in India and thereby supporting the growth of retail electronic payments in India.

RuPay is well poised to explore innovative payment opportunities such as Contactless – offline and online
to drive adoption of low value payments. All RuPay Cards will now have the functionality of NCMC
(National Common Mobility Card) which can enable low value contactless payments (like transit, toll,
parking, retail) using Offline technology.

The alliances with international network partners (Discover Financial Services, Japan Credit Bureau and
China Union Pay) provide valuable access to global acceptance footprint and offer world class payment
solutions to RuPay cardholders.

IMPS

With Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), India has become the leading country in the world in real time
payments in retail sector.

NACH
National Automated Clearing House (NACH), an offline web based system for bulk push and pull
transactions. NACH provides electronic mandate platform to register mandates facilitating paper less
collection process for the corporates and banks. It provides for both account based and Aadhaar based
transactions.

ABPS

Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System is helping the Government and Government agencies in making
the Direct Benefit Transfers for various Central as well as State sponsored schemes.

AePS

To access these funds at door step & drive the financial inclusion in India, Aadhaar enabled Payment
System (AePS) has been introduced. Since inception it has become instrumental to increase accessibility
of basic banking services in underserved areas. To extend the convenience of biometric to merchant
payments, BHIM Aadhaar has been launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NFS

National Financial Switch (NFS) is the largest network of shared Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in
India facilitating interoperable cash withdrawal, card to card funds transfer and interoperable cash deposit
transactions among other value added services in the country.

UPI

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been termed as the revolutionary product in the payment system.

Bharat Bill Payment System

Bharat Bill Payment System is offering one-stop bill payment solution for all recurring payments with
200+ Billers in the categories Viz. Electricity, Gas, Water, Telecom, DTH, Loan Repayments, Insurance,
FASTag Recharge, Cable etc. across India.

NETC

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection
(NETC) program to meet the electronic tolling requirements of the Indian market.

It provides an electronic payment facility to customer to make the payments at national, state and city toll
plazas by identifying the vehicle uniquely through a FASTag. FASTag are Radio-Frequency
Identification (RFID) stickers which are affixed on the vehicle windshield and enable the driver to make
toll payments electronically while the vehicle is in motion without stopping at the Toll plazas by saving
Fuel and Time.

With these products the aim is to transform India into a ‘less-cash’ society by touching every Indian with
one or other payment services. With each passing year we are moving towards our vision to be the best
payments network globally.

Background
DPSS at its meeting held on September 24, 2009 had given an in-principle approval to issue authorization
to NPCI for operating various retail payment systems in the country and granted Certificate of
Authorization for operation of National Financial Switch (NFS) ATM Network with effect from October
15, 2009. NPCI had deputed its officials to IDRBT Hyderabad and had taken over NFS operations on
December 14, 2009. Membership regulations and rules had been framed for enrolling all banks in the
country as members. This was done so that when the nation-wide payment systems are launched, all
would get included on a standardized platform.

A Technical Advisory Committee was constituted with two eminent professors of IIT, Mumbai. Prof.
N.L. Sarda is the Chairman and Prof. G. Sivakumar is the Co-Chairman of the Technical Advisory
Committee. Members in these committees are from banks at the level of Deputy General Manager and
Asst. General Manager.

NPCI International

NPCI began its journey way back in 2008 with one product and today it has various innovative and
unique digital payment products in its portfolio. Today, NPCI has touched every layer of the society with
one or the other products and doing exponentially well in domestic market. NPCI’s visionary
management had foreseen this growth and identified need to expand its wings outside of India. It started
with setting up of vision of ‘becoming best global payment network’, NPCI successfully established
partnerships with Discover Financial Services (DFS) USA, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) Japan, Union Pay
International (UPI) China, Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan and Network for Electronic
Transfers (NETS), Singapore.

However looking at the growth potential as well as scope in global market and NPCI’s capability of
providing easy, cost-effective & secure payment services, NPCI board identified the need of dedicated
resources allocation to international expansion and directed to establish separate entity dedicated for
internationalization of RuPay & UPI. Hence, International Alliance team at NPCI which was working on
international alliances for NPCI’s products became a separate entity with few more offerings.

In pursuance of NPCI Board & RBI approval, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has been
incorporated (“Company”) on April 3, 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI). NIPL is devoted for deployment of RuPay (domestic card scheme) and UPI
(mobile payment solution) outside of India.

NIPL is building huge acceptance network for RuPay and UPI which will help Indian travelers pay with
these payment channels in destination country of travel. With the evolution and growth of NIPL network,
any Indian travelling to any country across the globe will be able to use our products.

NPCI has successfully developed and proved its product and technological capabilities in domestic
market by transforming payment segment in India. Conversely, there are several countries which want to
establish a ‘real time payment system’ or ‘domestic card scheme’ in their own country. NIPL, with its
knowledge and experience, can offer these countries technological assistance through licensing,
consulting for building real time payment system to meet the rapidly evolving need of fast growing global
business.

NIPL is focused on transforming payments across the globe with use of technology and innovation. It will
not only enable payment for Indians but also uplift other countries by enhancing their payment
capabilities through technological assistance, consulting and infrastructure. These countries have
potentials but lack in resources i.e. financial, technological etc. NIPL is ready to fill this gap with its rich
experience and advance understanding of payments.

Milestone

NFS - National Financial Switch

National Financial Switch (NFS) ATM network having 37 members and connecting about 50,000 ATMs
was taken over by NPCI from Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT)
on December 14, 2009. Over the span of few years, NFS ATM network has grown many folds and is now
the leading multilateral ATM network in the country. As on 31st Jan’ 21, there were 1,176 members that
includes 112 Direct, 1,013 Sub members, 45 RRBs and 6 WLAOs using NFS network connected to more
than 2.51 Lac ATM (including cash deposit machines/recyclers)

NFS has established a strong and sustainable operational model with in-house capabilities and today can
be compared at par with other major and well-established switch networks. The operational functions and
services are at par with most of the global ATM networks.

Salient Features

 NFS has introduced sub-membership model which enables smaller, regional banks including
RRBs and local co-operative banks to participate in the ATM network.
 NFS has maintained high standards of application and network uptime of above 99.50% which
has helped our member banks ensure enhanced customer experience.
 The Dispute Management System (DMS), has benefitted members with high operational
efficiency and ease of online transaction life cycle management (chargeback, representment
etc.) in the network apart from being compliant with local regulatory requirements.
 NPCI has also tied up with International card schemes like Discover Financial Service (DFS),
Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) and China Union Pay International (CUPI) which allows their
cardholders to use ATMs connected to NFS network.
 The Fraud Risk Management (FRM) solution is offered as a value added service to monitor
transactions (in real time) and to generate alert or decline the transaction in the NFS network

Value Added Services:

Apart from basic transactions like Cash Withdrawal, Balance Enquiry, PIN Change and Mini Statement,
NFS also offers other Value Added Services (VAS) on ATMs/CDMs like:

 Interoperable Cash Deposit (ICD)

 Mobile Banking Registration (MBR)
 Card-to-Card Fund Transfer (C2C)
 Cheque Book Request (CBR)
 Statement Request (SR)
 Aadhar Number Seeding (ANS)

Interoperable Cash Deposit (ICD):

1. The service enables cardholders of participating member banks to use NFS networked Cash
Recyclers/Cash Deposit Machines of participating member banks for depositing cash in their own
account or third party account.
 2. The service is beneficial for banks as well as its customers as it will help banks to optimize cash
handling cost and at the same time provide convenience to customers by allowing them to use any
participating Bank’s Cash Recycler/Cash Deposit Machine to deposit cash into their own account
or any third party account.
3. Many Banks have already deployed about 30,000 + Cash Recyclers/Cash Deposit Machines for
catering their own customers, which can be enabled for interoperable transactions.
4. Interoperability will further help to optimized cash handling cost and earn higher fee income
leading to enhance Return on Investment.

Some of the key features of this service are:

 Real time credit to beneficiary account

 Instant verification of notes by cash recycler/cash deposit machine
 Optimize cash handling cost and reduce idle cash in machines
 Limit per Transaction is restricted to less than Rs.50,000/-
 Paperless Transaction.

Mobile Banking Registration (MBR)

The service enables cardholders of participating member bank to register for Mobile Banking using any
other participating member bank’s ATM.

Card-to-Card Fund Transfer (C2C)

The service enables cardholders of participating member bank to use NFS network ATMs of participating
member bank for initiating funds transfer to the any other participating member bank’s cardholder’s
account.

Cheque Book Request (CBR)

This service enables cardholder of participating member bank to request for Cheque Book using any other
participating member Bank’s ATM.

Statement Request (SR)

This service enables cardholder of participating member bank to request for account statement using any
other participating member Bank’s ATM.

Aadhaar Number Seeding (ANS)

This service enables cardholder of participating member bank to request for seeding of Aadhaar number
in the account linked to the card using any other participating member Bank’s ATM.

About NFS Steering Committee

An NFS Steering Committee with the following member banks has been constituted. The Committee
meets periodically (at least 3 times in a year) to evaluate the key performance parameters of NFS and to
discuss other opportunities and challenges which may arise from time to time.

For the Steering Committee, Banks nominate their senior officials connected with ATM Business,
Operations and Technology.
Board of Directors

Mr. Dilip Asbe is the MD & CEO of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Prior to this he
was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of NPCI.

He has played a pivotal role in designing, building, operationalization and management of large scale
payment processing platforms like Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money
(BHIM), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and India’s home grown card network RuPay.

He has been involved in setting up payments infrastructure like National Electronic Toll Collection
(NETC), RuPay international debit and credit card, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platforms using
Aadhaar Payments Bridge (APB). He has been instrumental in designing Aadhaar Enabled Payment
System (AEPS) and defining MicroATM standards for interoperable Financial Inclusion along with the
team at UIDAI.

He has played a leadership role in setting up and management of National Automated Clearing House
(NACH) with new functionalities like E-Mandate, Cheque Truncation System (CTS), National Financial
Switch (NFS) as well as Cashnet, the first ATM shared network and real time mobile top up systems in
India for Euronet.

Past Chairman

 Mr. N. R. Narayan Murthy was the first chairman who acted from 01 st August 2009 to 25th July
2013.
 Mr. Balachandran M. was the second chairman after the former one who acted from 23 rd
September 2013 to 20th September 2017.
 Mr. B. Sambamurthy was the another chairman who acted from 20 th September 2017 to 19th
February 2018.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile
application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing &
merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be
scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.

With the above context in mind, NPCI conducted a pilot launch with 21 member banks. The pilot launch
was on 11th April 2016 by Dr. Raghuram G Rajan, Governor, RBI at Mumbai. Banks have started to
upload their UPI enabled Apps on Google Play store from 25th August, 2016 onwards.

How UPI is Unique?

 Immediate money transfer through mobile device round the clock 24*7 and 365 days.
 Single mobile application for accessing different bank accounts.
 Single Click 2 Factor Authentication – Aligned with the Regulatory guidelines, yet provides for a
very strong feature of seamless single click payment.
 Virtual address of the customer for Pull & Push provides for incremental security with the
customer not required to enter the details such as Card no, Account number; IFSC etc.
 Bill Sharing with friends.
 Best answer to Cash on Delivery hassle, running to an ATM or rendering exact amount.
 Merchant Payment with Single Application or In-App Payments.
 Utility Bill Payments, Over the Counter Payments, Barcode (Scan and Pay) based payments.
 Donations, Collections, Disbursements Scalable.
 Raising Complaint from Mobile App directly.

Participants in UPI

 Payer PSP
 Payee PSP
 Remitter Bank
 Beneficiary Bank
 NPCI
 Bank Account holders
 Merchants

UPI - Benefits to the Ecosystem participants

Benefits for banks:

 Single click Two Factor authentication

 Universal Application for transaction
 Leveraging existing infrastructure
 Safer, Secured and Innovative
 Payment basis Single/ Unique Identifier
 Enable seamless merchant transactions

Benefits for end Customers:

 Round the clock availability

  Single Application for accessing different bank accounts
 Use of Virtual ID is more secure, no credential sharing
 Single click authentication
 Raise Complaint from Mobile App directly

Benefits for Merchants:

 Seamless fund collection from customers - single identifiers

 No risk of storing customer’s virtual address like in Cards
 Tap customers not having credit/debit cards
 Suitable for e-Com & m-Com transaction
 Resolves the COD collection problem
 Single click 2FA facility to the customer - seamless Pull
 In-App Payments (IAP)

Process of registration in UPI enabled Application

1. Download the UPI app and create the profile.

2. Generate the UPI Pin.
3. Change M Pin.
4. Perform a UPI transaction.
5. Pull-requesting money.

UPI AutoPay

NPCI has launched the functionality of UPI AutoPay for recurring payments. With this new facility
introduced under UPI 2.0, customers can now enable recurring e-mandate using any UPI application for
recurring payments such as mobile bills, electricity bills, EMI payments, entertainment/OTT
subscriptions, insurance, mutual funds among others.

Roles & Responsibilities of NPCI

 NPCI owns and operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform
 NPCI prescribes rules, regulations, guidelines, and the respective roles, responsibilities and
liabilities of the participants, with respect to UPI. This also includes transaction processing and
settlement, dispute management and clearing cut-offs for settlement
 NPCI approves the participation of Issuer Banks, PSP Banks, Third Party Application Providers
(TPAP) and Prepaid Payment Instrument issuers (PPIs) in UPI
 NPCI provides a safe, secure and efficient UPI system and network
 NPCI provides online transaction routing, processing and settlement services to members
participating in UPI
 NPCI can, either directly or through a third party, conduct audit on UPI participants and call for
data, information and records, in relation to their participation in UPI
 NPCI provides the banks participating in UPI access to system where they can download reports,
raise charge backs, update the status of UPI transactions etc.
Roles & responsibilities of PSP Bank (payment service provider)

 PSP Bank is a member of UPI and connects to the UPI platform for availing UPI payment facility
and providing the same to the TPAP which in turn enables the end-user customers / merchants to
make and accept UPI payments.
 PSP Bank, either through its own app or TPAP’s app, on-boards and registers the end-user
customers on UPI and links their bank accounts to their respective UPI ID.
 PSP Bank is responsible for authentication of the end-user customer at the time of registration of
such customer, either through its own app or TPAP’s app
 PSP Bank engages and on-boards the TPAPs to make the TPAP’s UPI app available to the end-
user customers
 PSP Bank has to ensure that TPAP and its systems are adequately secure to function on UPI
platform
 PSP Bank is responsible to ensure that UPI app and systems of TPAP are audited to safeguard
security and integrity of the data and information of the end-user customer including UPI
transaction data as well as UPI app security
 PSP Bank has to store all the payments data including UPI Transaction Data collected for the
purpose of facilitating UPI transactions, only in India
 PSP Bank is responsible to give all UPI customers an option to choose any bank account from the
list of Banks available on UPI platform for linking with the customer’s UPI ID.
 PSP Bank is responsible to put in place a grievance redressal mechanism for resolving complaints
and disputes raised by the end-user customer

Roles & responsibilities of TPAP (Third party application provider)

 TPAP is a service provider and participates in UPI through PSP Bank

 TPAP is responsible to comply with all the requirements prescribed by PSP Bank and NPCI in
relation to TPAP’s participation in UPI
 TPAP is responsible to ensure that its systems are adequately secure to function on the UPI
platform
 TPAP is responsible to comply with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and guidelines etc.
prescribed by any statutory or regulatory authority in relation to UPI and TPAP’s participation on
the UPI platform including all circulars and guidelines issued by NPCI in this regard
 TPAP has to store all the payments data including UPI Transaction Data collected by TPAP for
the purpose of facilitating UPI transactions, only in India
 TPAP is responsible to facilitate RBI, NPCI and other agencies nominated by RBI/ NPCI, to
access the data, information, systems of TPAP related to UPI and carry out audits of TPAP, as and
when required by RBI and NPCI
 TPAP shall facilitate the end-user customer with an option to raise grievance through the TPAP’s
grievance redressal facility made available through TPAP’s UPI app or website and such other
channels as may be deemed appropriate by the TPAP like email, messaging platform, IVR etc.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism

  Every end-user customer can raise a complaint with respect to a UPI transaction, on the PSP app /
TPAP app.
 End-user customer can select the relevant UPI transaction and raise a complaint in relation thereto
 A complaint shall be first raised with the relevant TPAP in respect to all UPI related grievances /
complaints of the end-user customers on-boarded by the PSP Bank / TPAP (if the UPI transaction
is made through TPAP app). In case the complaint / grievance remains unresolved, the next level
for escalation will be the PSP Bank, followed by the bank (where the end-user customer maintains
its account) and NPCI, in the same order. After exercising these options, the end-user customer
can approach the Banking Ombudsman and / or the Ombudsman for Digital Complaints, as the
case may be.
 The complaint can be raised for both the types of transactions i.e. fund transfer and merchant
transactions
 The end-user customer shall be kept communicated by the PSP / TPAP by means of updating the
status of such end-user customer’s complaint on the relevant app itself.

RuPay

RuPay is the first-of-its-kind domestic Card payment network of India, with wide acceptance at ATMs,
POS devices and e-commerce websites across India. It is a highly secure network that protects against
anti-phishing. The name, derived from the words ‘Rupee and ‘Payment’, emphasizes that it is India’s very
own initiative for Card payments. It is our answer to international payment networks, expressing pride
over our nationality.

RuPay fulfils RBI’s vision of initiating a ‘less cash’ economy. This could be achieved only by
encouraging every Indian bank and financial institution to become tech-savvy and engage in offering
electronic payments.

A product of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

RuPay is a product of NPCI, the umbrella organization that powers retail payments in the country. The
provision under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, empowered the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to create a secure electronic payment and settlement system
in India.

The nature of NPCI’s initiatives and objectives includes it under the “Not for Profit Company” under the
provisions of Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 and more recently under the Section 8 of the
Companies Act 2013. This was an initiative to build the necessary banking infrastructure required to
propel India towards a ‘less cash’ economy. NPCI recognizes the need for tech-driven innovations in the
retail payments system to drive operational efficiencies among a larger Indian audience.

Last Seven Years Journey

RuPay during its journey for last seven years, has made a significant impact on the retail payment systems
in the country. Dedicated to the nation by our Hon'ble President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, endorsed by the
Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and later made the card of choice for the ambitious Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, RuPay is now a known name. RuPay in last seven years has launched various
card variants catering to the different segments of the society.
In addition to the Government scheme cards, RuPay Classic, Platinum & Select variant cards are designed
for the masses and affluent customers. RuPay offers excellent privileges and benefits such as International
Acceptance, Domestic and International Airport Lounge Access, free personal accidental death and
permanent total disability insurance coverage , various merchant offers, different Cashback scheme,
Health and Wellness benefits to appeal to the mass and affluent customers.

Keeping in pace with continuous development and innovation in the ecosystem, RuPay has developed a
bouquet of new innovative products such as RuPay Contactless With the vision of One Card for all
Payment systems, RuPay Contactless has revolutionized payments by introducing offline wallet-based
payment mechanisms and service area features for storing merchant/operator-specific applications. This
product enables seamless payment across all use cases, including travel by different metros and other
transport systems across the country, retail shopping, and purchases.

RuPay Contactless - Tokenization

NPCI has invested in offering next-generation solutions like tokenization and mobile-based PoS. These
technologies enable Indian consumers to securely use their phones to make card payments without
disclosing their sensitive card details. It will allow cards to be tokenized on smart watches, and other
wearables, including many IoT, enabled devices allowing them to conduct card payments.

Bharat Ecommerce Payment Gateway (BEPG)

BEPG is the new e-commerce system to enhance the current e-commerce experience for the RuPay
Cardholders. RuPay card aims to deliver a convenient and easy e-commerce experience without
compromising on the security and risk.

RuPay Prepaid

NPCI has been formed to consolidate and integrate the multiple systems with varying service levels into
nation-wide uniform and standard business process for all retail payment systems. NPCI facilitates an
affordable payment mechanism to benefit the common man across the country and help grow the retail
payments in India.

RuPay: RuPay is a brand of NPCI under which it operates the card scheme and this document is published
by NPCI for its RuPay card scheme.

As an extension to the RuPay Debit scheme, in 2014 the RuPay prepaid card scheme was launched
considering the huge opportunity in the untapped, unorganised, corporate gifting and other business space.
In 2014, along with the Prepaid product, an Prepaid hosted solution model to banks was also launched,
this helped all banks (Private, Public, RRB and co-op banks) from different landscape to have an equal
pricing for all the services related to RuPay prepaid cards; hence helping all banks with an equal level
playing field in the prepaid market.

RuPay Contactless

Make payments more convenient and safer with no physical connection Just a tap of your RuPay
Contactless card on the reader helps to make all your payments. An overarching vision for payment
systems at this juncture needs greater adoption of electronic payments and migration towards a “less-
cash” society. Contactless payments are the future of payment industry in India.