Unlike UPI, e-RUPI is a digital voucher that limits where and how someone can spend money, but it also stockpiles data which in turn raises concerns of financial surveillance. On August 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched e-RUPI, a payment system that sits on top of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). But what exactly is it and what is it supposed to accomplish? Why it matters? The National Payments Corporation of India is an association of public and private banks, and yet, time and again, its systems are launched under the auspices of the government (BHIM, UPI in Bhutan, Bharat Bill Pay Service) giving it the appearance and benefits of a state-sponsored scheme. State and private-sector dependence on e-RUPI-like systems may have far-reaching consequences, especially with the data that is being collected and the potential exclusion that may follow as the instrument…
