Send Rs 5,000 Without Internet: India’s New Offline UPI Solution

India's digital payment system is going to be compatible with a much bigger range of people since the banks and tech companies are going to start Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions without internet connection. Almost 850 million Indians who have never tried UPI, such as 400 million feature phone users and people living in rural or less digitally developed areas, are the target group of the initiative.

Offline UPI uses *99# USSD service, which is available as a dial *99#. User can navigate through menu to send or receive money and can check account balance, without the internet. Each user can transact up to Rs 5,000 per day and pay a small fee of Rs 0.50. For availing the service, customer has to register their mobile number with the bank and then create a UPI PIN through online banking or bank app.

The UPI 123Pay system, which incorporates interactive voice response (IVR) technology, is one of the key innovations that facilitate the digitless payment process. The users are allowed to make guided UPI transactions in 12 Indian languages, thus, making digital payments easier for feature phone users.

Samsung is working on both the offline and online UPI payments via its Wallet app. Starting from December 2025, Galaxy smartphone users in India can use their fingerprint or face recognition for transaction authentication instead of entering a PIN. The company claims that this will make the payment process much easier without compromising on security.

With the introduction of offline UPI and voice-guided transaction features, India’s digital payments landscape can expect a larger number of users. The area of connectivity or device limitations that excluded users from online banking will now be completely bridged.