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New Delhi : India’s digital payment ecosystem is taking another major step overseas, with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) signing a commercial agreement with Uzbekistan’s National Interbank Processing Centre JSC (NIPC), the operator of the country’s HUMO payment network.
The partnership will allow Indian tourists, business travellers and students in Uzbekistan to make seamless merchant payments by simply scanning the country’s interoperable UZQR code through their existing UPI-enabled apps.
The initiative, announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral visit to Uzbekistan, has received the approval of both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU). Under the agreement, HUMO will serve as NIPL’s authorised partner for cross-border merchant acceptance.
The move is expected to make payments across retail outlets, hotels, restaurants and other services more convenient for Indian visitors. Users can pay directly from their Indian bank accounts, reducing dependence on cash and cards while helping avoid additional foreign-exchange-related friction.
The agreement also marks a significant expansion of digital public infrastructure cooperation between India and Uzbekistan, strengthening economic and technological ties between the two countries.
With the latest development, UPI’s international acceptance network now covers 10 countries — Singapore, the UAE, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Greece — further strengthening India’s digital payments presence across the globe.
