What do you mean by Unified Payments Interface (UPI)? Whether use of UPI, as a payment mechanism in public issues is mandatory? What is the limit one can apply for a public issue through UPI?

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant payment system developed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), an RBI regulated entity. UPI is built over the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) infrastructure and allows you to instantly transfer money between any two parties' bank account. UPI as a payment mechanism is available for all public issues for which Red Herring Prospectus is filed after January 01, 2019. The applicability of UPI as a payment mechanism has been prescribed in a Phased manner as under: Phase I: From January 01, 2019, the UPI mechanism for retail individual investors through intermediaries will be made effective along with the existing process and existing timeline of T+6 days. The same will continue for a period of 3 months or floating of 5 main board public issues, whichever is later. Phase II: Thereafter, for applications by retail individual investors through intermediaries, the existing process of physical movement of forms from intermediaries to Self-Certified Syndicate Bank for blocking of funds will be discounted and only the UPI mechanism with existing timeline of T+6 days will continue, for a period of 3 months or floating of 5 main board public issues, whichever is later. Phase III: Subsequently, final reduced timeline will be made effective using the UPI mechanism. The limit for IPO application is 2 lakhs per transaction on UPI.