UPI Payment Limit: Rs 1 Lakh Is Not the Maximum, Know Where Rs 2 Lakh and Rs 5 Lakh Limits Apply

UPI has become a part of everyday life, from paying at local shops to sending money to friends and family. But there is a limit on how much you can transfer through UPI in a single transaction.

While the commonly known limit is ₹1 lakh, it is not the same for every type of payment. For some specific categories, the limit can go up to ₹5 lakh. On the other hand, services such as UPI Lite and UPI 123Pay have lower limits.

Regular UPI payments: Up to ₹1 lakh

For most everyday UPI transactions, the standard limit is ₹1 lakh per transaction. This generally covers payments to individuals, shops and service providers.

However, the applicable limit can vary depending on the type of transaction and the bank involved.

UPI limit of ₹5 lakh for select payments

The ₹1 lakh ceiling does not apply to certain high-value transactions. For eligible categories, UPI allows payments of up to ₹5 lakh in a single transaction.

These include:

• Income tax and other eligible tax payments: Up to ₹5 lakh
• IPO applications: Up to ₹5 lakh
• RBI Retail Direct Scheme: Up to ₹5 lakh
• Eligible hospital payments: Up to ₹5 lakh
• Eligible educational institution payments: Up to ₹5 lakh

So, if you need to make a large payment for an IPO, certain taxes, college fees or hospital expenses, the applicable UPI limit may be higher than the standard ₹1 lakh.

Some payments have a ₹2 lakh limit

Not every special category gets the ₹5 lakh ceiling. Certain capital market-related payments and insurance payments can have a UPI transaction limit of up to₹2 lakh.

UPI Lite limit

UPI Lite is meant for quick, small-value daily payments. It is therefore designed with a much lower limit than regular UPI.

• Maximum per transaction: ₹1,000
• Maximum UPI Lite balance: ₹5,000

This makes UPI Lite convenient for small purchases without entering a UPI PIN for every eligible transaction.

UPI 123Pay limit

UPI 123Pay allows people using feature phones to make digital payments without relying on a smartphone.

Themaximum limit for a single UPI 123Pay transaction is ₹10,000.

UPI limit depends on the payment type

The biggest takeaway is that there isno single UPI limit that applies to every transaction. The amount you can pay depends on the category of payment, the UPI service being used and, in some cases, the bank's own limits.

So, before making a high-value payment, it is worth checking the applicable transaction limit with your bank or UPI app.