RBI Decides to make the Regulatory Sandbox ‘Theme Neutral’ and ‘On Tap’
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, April 9, 2025: Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, Reserve Bank of India today announced decisions of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s 54th meeting held from April 7 to 9, 2025. Mr Malhotra issued a Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies. This Statement sets out various developmental and regulatory policy measures relating to Payment Systems; and Fintech. The RBI’s Deputy Governor M. Rajeshwar Rao, Governor Sanjay Malhotra, Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar and Deputy Governor Swaminathan Janakiraman, later on addressed the media on Wednesday:
Payment Systems
Enhancing transaction limits in UPI
At present, the transaction amount for UPI, covering both Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant payments (P2M), is capped at Rs1 lakh except for specific use cases of P2M payments which have higher limits, some at Rs2 lakh and others at Rs5 lakh.
To enable the ecosystem to respond efficiently to new use cases, it is proposed that NPCI, in consultation with banks and other stakeholders of the UPI ecosystem, may announce and revise such limits based on evolving user needs. Appropriate safeguards will be put in place to mitigate risks associated with higher limits. Banks shall continue to have the discretion to decide their own internal limits within the limits announced by NPCI.
P2P transactions on UPI shall continue to be capped at Rs1 lakh, as hitherto. NPCI will be advised accordingly.
Fintech
‘On Tap’ application facility under theme neutral Regulatory Sandbox
The Reserve Bank has been operating the Regulatory Sandbox (RS) framework since 2019, and four specific thematic cohorts have been announced and completed till date. An ‘On Tap’ application facility for themes of closed cohorts was announced in October 2021. A fifth ‘Theme Neutral’ cohort with a specified time window for receiving applications was also announced in October 2023, which will close in May 2025. Under this cohort, any innovative product or solution within the regulatory ambit of RBI could be tested if found eligible. Based on the experience gained and feedback received from stakeholders, it is now proposed to make the Regulatory Sandbox ‘Theme Neutral’ and ‘On Tap’.
This initiative is expected to foster continuous innovation and keep pace with the rapidly evolving FinTech / regulatory landscape. Additional details in this regard will be communicated separately.
