India aims to expand its UPI payments service to Maldives

The MoU was signed between NPCI and the Maldives Ministry of Economic Development and Trade after Jaishankar’s meeting with his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer

Jaishankar began a three-day visit to the Maldives on Friday, his first since President Mohamed Muizzu’s government took office in November last year

In addition to this, the Minister also announced the launch of six high-impact projects in the areas of street lighting, mental health, child speech therapy and special education with his Maldivian counterpart

India and the Maldives have signed an agreement to implement the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the Indian Ocean archipelago, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying the decision would have a positive impact on the tourism sector.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian National Payments Corporation and the Maldives Ministry of Economic Development and Commerce after a meeting between Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer.

Jaishankar began a three-day visit to the Maldives on Friday, his first since President Mohamed Muizzu’s government took office in November last year.

In a post on X, Jaishankar said, “Today had productive discussions with Ministry of External Affairs @MoosaZameerin Malé. Witnessed the signing of MoU between National Payments Corporation of India and Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Maldives for introducing digital payment system in Maldives.”

Apart from this, the Minister also announced the inauguration of six important projects in the areas of street lighting, mental health, child speech therapy and special education, jointly with his Maldivian counterpart.

The two sides also renewed another agreement between the National Centre for Good Governance, India and the Civil Service Commission of Maldives for an additional 1,000 seats for training of Maldivian civil servants.

In May, there was information that the Maldives plans to introduce Rupay service in India “strengthen the Maldivian rufiyaa.”

In January, relations between the two countries deteriorated when the Maldives’ deputy chief minister, along with other cabinet members and government officials, made “disparaging and distasteful” remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Lakshadweep islands and called for the Indian archipelago to be developed as a global beach tourism haven.

Following this, many startups took a pro-India stance and boycotted the Maldives in one way or another. For example, InsuranaceDekho suspended its travel insurance to the Maldives, saying, “We stand united with our country and in solidarity.” Another travel tech giant, Easemytrip, also announced the suspension of all flight bookings to the Maldives.

In a similar vein, travel tech startup MakeMyTrip has launched its ‘Beaches of India’ campaign, offering deals and discounts to encourage Indian tourists to explore the country’s “stunning beaches”.

It is a key part of India’s global expansion for RuPay and UPI services, with Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius, Bhutan, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates and Canada among the companies that have deployed the payments infrastructure in their countries.

The latest development is NPCI’s entry into Qatar after partnering with Qatar National Bank (QNB), allowing Indian tourists to make UPI payments using QR codes through QNB’s merchant network in Qatar.

Not to mention, the UPI transaction volume in July stood at Rs 20.64 lakh cr, up 2.8% from Rs 20.07 lakh cr in June, as per data data issued by National Payments Corporation of India.