New Delhi:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised the investment limit for payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) mechanism for retail investors purchasing debt in public issuance to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2 lakh currently in order to make investment more accessible.
The new framework will apply to public debt securities issues that open on or after May 1, 2022, the SEBI said in a circular.
The current SEBI rules allow investors to apply for public debt issuance with the ability to block funds through the UPI mechanism for an application value of up to Rs 2 lakh.
Based on discussions with market participants and in order to bring uniformity in the requirements and ease of investment for investors, the SEBI has now decided to increase the limit for investments through the UPI mechanism to Rs 5 lakh.
The investor can use the mechanism to block the funds for an application value of up to Rs 5 lakh per application.
UPI is a direct payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It allows instant money transfer between the bank accounts of two people using a payment.
By December 2021, NPCI had increased the per transaction limit in UPI from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for UPI-based Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) Initial Public Offer (IPO).