UPI circle on BHIM app enables users to approve payments for family members remotely

MUMBAI: UPI users can now delegate payment access to trusted contacts—including family members, staff, or digitally inexperienced users—through a new feature on the BHIM app called UPI Circle . Launched by NPCI BHIM Services Ltd ( NBSL ), a wholly owned subsidiary of NPCI, the feature supports multiple use cases, including support for senior citizens, controlled spending for young adults, and secure delegation for small businesses.

For instance, senior citizens can have a family member approve payments on their behalf. Similarly, parents can enable children to manage educational or daily expenses through real-time approvals. Business owners can delegate payment initiation to staff for operational spending, such as vendor payments or fuel costs, with full oversight. The feature also allows individuals without a UPI-linked bank account to request payments, which can be approved by a trusted user in real-time. The UPI user will get a sound notification as soon as the request is sent.

“At present, parents or family members who do not use UPI usually send a photo of the QR code asking their relatives to pay. With Circle, without linking their bank accounts they can send a request to family members who then authorise the payment without having to go through the hassle of saving the QR code photo in their gallery and searching for it”said Lalitha Natraj, MD & CEO, of NBSL Also, as a safety feature UPI apps limit the amount that can be paid by scanning QR code from gallery to Rs 2000. The new service will help overcome this limitation. “This is an interoperable solution and can be used with other third-party payment apps as well,” she said.

UPI Circle introduces partial delegation by allowing a primary user to authorise up to five secondary users to initiate payments. Each transaction requires explicit approval from the primary user via UPI PIN on the BHIM app. This ensures all delegated transactions are transparent and controlled, with the primary user receiving real-time notifications and maintaining visibility on all activities. According to Nataraj, Circle is not developed as a business solution, but it can be used to enable staff or employees to make payments on the employers behalf without transferring money to the employee.

The feature is aimed at expanding access to digital payments while maintaining security and oversight. Lalitha Nataraj, MD & CEO of NBSL, said the feature is intended to create a more inclusive and connected financial ecosystem by enabling secure and flexible sharing of payment responsibilities.

UPI Circle is available on version 4.0.2 of the BHIM app, which also includes other updates such as Split Expenses, Family Mode, a Spends Dashboard, multilingual support, and a redesigned user interface. Users can access the UPI Circle section from the app’s home screen or menu, add a secondary user by UPI ID or QR code, and set the delegation type to “Approve every payment.”