Why in News?
- NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) has entered into a commercial agreement with National Interbank Processing Centre JSC (NIPC) of Uzbekistan to enable UPI-based merchant payments across Uzbekistan.
- The agreement was signed on 30 August 2026 and was announced during the bilateral visit of the Prime Minister of India to Uzbekistan.
What is the Agreement?
NIPL, the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), will integrate India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Uzbekistan's national interoperable QR payment infrastructure, known as UZQR.
Under the arrangement, Indian users will be able to:
- Use their existing UPI-enabled applications in Uzbekistan.
- Scan the country's UZQR codes at participating merchants.
- Make instant person-to-merchant (P2M) payments directly from their Indian bank accounts.
- Reduce dependence on cash and international payment cards.
What is UZQR?
- UZQR is Uzbekistan's national interoperable QR-code infrastructure for digital payments.
- Its integration with UPI will allow Indian payment applications to interact with Uzbekistan's domestic QR payment ecosystem.
- This represents an important example of cross-border interoperability between national digital payment systems.
UPI's Growing Global Footprint
- With this agreement, UPI is now accepted in 11 countries.
- UPI has already lived in: Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Greece.
- Uzbekistan marks UPI's entry into Central Asia for the first time.
