RBI retains repo rate at 6.5 pc

Mumbai, Aug 9: The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the ninth time in a row, saying food inflation remains stubborn.

The rate increase cycle was paused in April last year after six consecutive rate hikes, aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.

Announcing the third bi-monthly monetary policy for the current financial year, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

He said MPC will remain watchful of elevated food inflation.

The RBI keeps the growth projection unchanged at 7.2 per cent for the current financial year.

Meanwhile, The Reserve Bank has decided to enhance the limit for tax payments through UPI from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per transaction, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced on Thursday.

“UPI has become the most preferred mode of payment, due to its seamless features. Currently, the transaction limit for UPI is capped at Rs 1 lakh. Based on the various use cases, the Reserve Bank has periodically reviewed and enhanced the limits for a few categories like capital markets, IPO subscriptions, loan collections, insurance, medical and educational services, etc.,” Das said.

“As direct and indirect tax payments are common, regular and high value, it has been decided to enhance the limit for tax payments through UPI from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per transaction. Necessary instructions will be issued separately,” he added.

The RBI is also making a provision for the Introduction of Delegated Payments through UPI which will enable a secondary user to make payments using UPI by making use of the bank account of the primary user. The step is aimed at further deepening the reach and usage of digital payments.

“The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has a very large user base of 424 million individuals. There is, however, potential for further expansion of the user base,” Das said.

“It is proposed to introduce ‘Delegated Payments’ in UPI. Delegated Payments would allow an individual (primary user) to set a UPI transaction limit for another individual (secondary user) on the primary user’s bank account. This product is expected to add to the reach and usage of digital payments across the country. Detailed instructions will be issued shortly,” he added.