The Reserve Bank of India published its Draft Master Direction on Prepaid Payment Instruments on April 22, 2026. The 30-day public consultation window closes May 22. The draft replaces the existing 2021 PPI master directions. All full-KYC PPI issuers must enable interoperability through UPI or card networks on the issuer side. Full-KYC PPI holders can also discover their prepaid instruments on third-party UPI applications.
Under the proposed framework, full-KYC PPIs carry a maximum balance of Rs 2 lakh. Small PPIs are capped at Rs 10,000. Their validity period is two years. Gift PPIs cannot exceed Rs 10,000 per instrument. Transit PPIs are limited to Rs 3,000. Monthly cash loading from physical cash sources is restricted to Rs 10,000 across all PPIs held by one person.
Non-bank PPI issuers must maintain a minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore at the time of authorization. This threshold scales to Rs 15 crore within three years. PPIs issued to foreign nationals and NRIs operate under the UPI One World classification. Prepaid instruments accounted for 3.6 percent of retail payment volumes in H2CY25 according to the RBI's Payment Systems Report. The final direction will determine compliance timelines for India's prepaid instrument market.