Kathmandu, November 14
Nepalis are still unable to make QR payments in India, three years after Nepal and India signed an agreement to introduce cross-border digital payment services.
While Indian visitors can scan QR codes and make payments in Nepal, the facility remains unavailable to Nepalis travelling to India.
The agreement to connect the two countries’ payment systems was signed on June 1, 2023, during the visit of then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to India. In the presence of Prachanda and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) agreed to connect their systems to enable cross-border digital payments.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah is scheduled to visit India in the second week of Mangsir. However, it remains uncertain whether the issue of enabling QR payments for Nepalis in India will be addressed during his visit.
Neither Nepal Rastra Bank nor NCHL has been asked to provide recommendations on cross-border payments in preparation for the visit, leaving the prospect of progress on the issue uncertain.
During Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal’s visit to India in May this year, the two countries also agreed to introduce cross-border digital person-to-person (P2P) remittance services.
Following that visit, Indians in Nepal can send money directly to bank accounts of their relatives in India through mobile banking or connectIPS. The limit is INR 15,000 per transaction and INR 100,000 per month for Indian citizens sending money to India.
Similarly, Nepalis and Indians in India can transfer up to INR 200,000 per transaction to Nepali bank accounts.
However, merchant payments through QR codes and digital transfers from Nepali individuals to India are still in the process of being introduced.
Nepal Rastra Bank spokesperson Guru Prasad Poudel said preparations for the services had been completed on the infrastructure front and discussions were underway with the relevant authorities to make them available soon.
“These services will also begin soon. Preparations on the infrastructure side are complete, and discussions are underway with the concerned authorities to enable Nepalis to make QR payments in India as soon as possible,” Poudel said.
NCHL Chief Executive Officer Nilesh Man Singh Pradhan said the Indian side had not provided a clear explanation for the delay in making QR payments available to Nepalis.
“The Indian side keeps saying that it is making preparations. India is connecting its payment system with several other countries, but it has not yet introduced a facility allowing citizens of any foreign country to travel to India and make direct payments by scanning local QR codes,” Pradhan said.
He attributed the delay to incomplete technical preparations on the Indian side, adding that Nepal had completed its infrastructure and policy preparations.
Pradhan said NCHL was also working on plans to connect dollar cards to Chinese payment networks.
The proposed arrangement would allow users to link dollar cards to mobile applications and make payments by scanning Alipay+ and UnionPay QR codes, he said.
Currently, Indians visiting Nepal can make QR payments through a service operated by Nepal’s private payment system operator, Fonepay. Nepalis travelling to India, however, cannot use the same facility.
The cross-border payment arrangement was based on the integration of NCHL’s National Payment Interface and NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The agreement signed in 2023 envisioned the gradual introduction of cross-border payment services, which have since been rolled out in phases.
Pradhan said he had no information about whether the QR payment issue would be taken up during Prime Minister Shah’s upcoming visit to India.
What payment options are currently available?
Nepalis and Indians can currently transfer money across the border through several channels, subject to prescribed conditions and limits.
First, Nepalis in India and Indians in Nepal can visit banks in person to send money under the applicable rules and limits.
Second, individuals can transfer money directly to another person’s bank account through mobile banking or connectIPS, using the P2P remittance facility.
Third, Indian and Nepali citizens can carry Indian currency notes in denominations below INR 500, up to a limit of NPR 25,000, when travelling between the two countries.
Fourth, Nepalis can use cards issued by Nepali banks and financial institutions to make payments in India. They can also withdraw up to INR 15,000 per day from Indian ATMs, subject to a monthly limit of INR 100,000.
For hospital bills, pharmacy purchases and hotel payments, card transactions of up to NPR 1 million do not require prior approval. For payments exceeding that amount, customers can inform their Nepali bank and make the payment through their cards.
