NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, has entered into a commercial agreement with Uzbekistan's National Interbank Processing Centre JSC (NIPC), operator of the HUMO national payment system, on 30th August 2026. This partnership enables Indian tourists, business travelers, and students to make instant merchant payments across Uzbekistan by scanning the country's national interoperable QR code, UZQR, using their UPI-enabled applications.
The agreement was announced during the bilateral visit of the Prime Minister of India to Uzbekistan and follows formal approvals from financial regulators including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU), which designated HUMO as NIPL's authorized partner for cross-border merchant acceptance. Key benefits include universal merchant acceptance through integration with CBU's mandated Unified National QR infrastructure (UZQR), providing near-universal acceptance across retail, hospitality, and service merchants in Uzbekistan.
Indian users can make direct person-to-merchant (P2M) payments from their Indian bank accounts, eliminating foreign exchange markup friction and reducing reliance on international cards or cash. This initiative advances digital public infrastructure cooperation and aligns with both nations' broader strategic and economic goals. UPI is now accepted in ten countries including Singapore, UAE, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Greece, enabling Indian travelers to make seamless payments abroad through UPI.