BHIM–UPI in Bhutan

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Last Updated14/07/2021

NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) has partnered with Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan for implementing BHIM UPI in Bhutan.
The collaboration between NIPL and RMA will enable acceptance of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) powered BHIM App in Bhutan.

Bhutan has become the first country to adopt India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) standards for its quick response (QR) code.
It is also the second country after Singapore to have BHIM-UPI acceptance at merchant locations.
RMA will ensure that the participating NPCI mobile application through UPI QR transactions is accepted at all RMA acquired merchants in Bhutan.
The launch of BHIM-UPI in Bhutan indicates that the payment infrastructures of the two countries are seamlessly connected

This facility will benefit more than 200,000 tourists from India who travel to Bhutan each year, NPCI said.
With this introduction, Bhutan will become the first country to adopt Unified Payment Interface (UPI) standards for its QR deployment.
Bhutan will also become the only country to both issue and accept RuPay cards as well as accept BHIM UPI.

UPI is an instant real-time payment system, allowing users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts without disclosing details of one’s bank account to the other party.
Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is a payment app that enables users to make simple, easy and quick transactions using Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
It also allows direct bank payments to anyone on UPI using their UPI ID or scanning their QR with the BHIM app.
The users can also request money through the app from a UPI ID.
In 2020, UPI enabled commerce worth $457 billion, which is equivalent to around 15% of India’s GDP.

It is the umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India
It 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
It has been estd for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit” Company under the provisions of Section 8 of Companies Act 2013
It aims to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.