NPCI introduces UPI Lite X in India: How is it different from UPI, UPI Lite

UPI Lite X in India: NPCI introduced a new form of UPI payments in India. The new service dubbed as UPI Lite X was introduced on the second day of the ongoing Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2023 and it uses NFC or Near Field Communication for making and accepting payments. Owing to the nature of technology used in UPI Lite X, the transactions are faster and can also be done in areas with poor connectivity.

While the newly launched service is fairly simple to use, it does raise a lot of questions as to how it is different from the conventional UPI transactions and the UPI Lite transactions. So, here is a detailed guide that will help you understand the difference between UPI, UPI Lite and UPI Lite X.

UPI Lite X vs UPI Lite vs UPI: What’s different?

Let’s start with the basics. One the biggest differences between UPI, UPI Lite and UPI Lite is that of connectivity. Both UPI and UPI Lite transactions require strong internet connectivity for the transaction to take place. On the other hand, UPI Lite X transactions don’t require internet connectivity as it uses NFC for enabling transactions.

Another point of difference between the three service is the way the transactions take place. Both UPI and UPI Lite transactions can take place either scanning the QR code or using the UPI ID of the receiver in which the receiver does not need to be nearby to receive the funds. This means that a person sitting in Delhi and send money to a person sitting in Mumbai if they have the receiver’s UPI ID. However, similar transactions using UPI Lite X cannot take place as it requires both the devices, that is, the sender and the receiver to be close proximity with each other.

Yet another point of difference between the UPI, UPI Lite and UPI Lite X is how the transactions take place. When using UPI, the transfer of funds take place from one bank account to another in real-time. However, in case of UPI Lite, the transaction takes place from sender’s on-device wallet or the UPI Lite account to the receiver’s bank account. And while NPCI hasn’t elaborated, UPI Lite X transactions would take place from the sender’s on-device wallet to receiver’s on-device wallet using NFC, which would eliminate the need for having internet connectivity as the transaction will take place between on-device e-wallets instead of the bank accounts.

Lastly, the limit. The maximum amount that can be transferred in a day from a Bank account using UPI is Rs 2 Lakhs and a user can perform a total of 20 transactions in a day. On the other hand, the maximum limit of a single transaction is Rs 200, while the maximum limit in a day is Rs 4,000. There is no limit on the number of UPI Lite transactions in a day. NPCI is yet to share details on daily transaction limit for UPI Lite X.