Over 6 in 10 digital wallet users surveyed believe that RBI shouldn’t reduce the amount of money stored in digital wallets; Want it to retain or increase limits instead

Over 6 in 10 digital wallet users surveyed believe that RBI shouldn’t reduce the amount of money stored in digital wallets; Want it to retain or increase limits instead

New Delhi [India], June 19: India’s digital payments revolution, powered by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and a rapidly expanding base of digital wallet and Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) users, has made small-value, app-based payments a part of everyday life for hundreds of millions of Indians. Digital wallets are now used for everything from daily commute and grocery payments to recharges, bill payments and merchant transactions, making the balance and transaction limits attached to them a matter of direct, practical interest to consumers.

  • 63% of digital wallet users surveyed want RBI to retain or increase wallet limits while 23% believe limits should depend on the level of KYC/authentication completed by the user
  • 62% of digital wallet users surveyed say reducing the amount that can be stored or transacted via wallets would inconvenience their everyday payments; 38% believe lower limits won’t curb fraud and will only penalise genuine users
  • Nationwide survey receives 43,000 responses from users of digital wallets across 304 districts of India

Against this backdrop, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2026 released a draft Master Direction on Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), 2026, for public comments, replacing its August 2021 framework, with the consultation window open till May 22, 2026. While the draft raises the maximum outstanding balance for Full-KYC wallets to ₹2 lakh, it also proposes to sharply cut the monthly cash top-up limit for such wallets from ₹50,000 to ₹10,000, introduces a uniform ₹25,000 monthly cap on person-to-person transfers, mandates UPI and card-network interoperability, requires immediate refunds for failed transactions and imposes tighter compliance norms on issuers, citing rising fraud and anti-money-laundering concerns.

The proposed reduction in how much money can be loaded into and moved through digital wallets has drawn considerable attention from users and industry alike, with many arguing that genuine, everyday users could be inconvenienced even as the changes do little to deter determined fraudsters. To understand how digital wallet users view these limits, LocalCircles conducted a large survey seeking their direct opinion on whether the RBI should reduce, retain or increase wallet limits, and how a reduction would affect them.

The survey received over 43,000 responses from users of digital wallets across 304 districts of India and found that an overwhelming majority of digital wallet users are against any reduction in wallet limits. 63% of those surveyed want the RBI to retain or increase limits, only 7% support reducing them, and 23% believe limits should depend on the level of KYC/authentication done by the user. Further, 62% say they would be inconvenienced if limits were reduced, and 38% believe that reducing limits will not curb fraud, but instead penalise genuine users. The detailed findings are summarised below.

63% of digital wallet users surveyed believe RBI should retain or increase limits; 23% believe limits should depend on level of KYC/authentication

With the RBI’s draft rules proposing changes to how much money can be stored and transacted through digital wallets, the survey first sought users’ view on the money limits for digital wallets. In response, 33% said current limits should be increased as people increasingly rely on wallets, while 30% said current limits are adequate and should be retained as is – taking the share that wants limits retained or increased to 63%. Another 23% felt limits should depend on the level of KYC/verification done by the user, and only 7% said limits should be reduced to lower fraud and misuse risk, while 7% could not say. This indicates that a large majority of users see digital wallets as a growing necessity rather than a risk to be curtailed. This question in the survey received 22,259 responses.

62% of digital wallet users surveyed believe that they would be inconvenienced if RBI reduced the amount of money that can be stored or transacted via digital wallets; 38% also believe reducing limits won’t curb fraud but penalise genuine users

The survey next asked digital wallet users how it would affect them if the RBI were to reduce the amount of money that can be stored or transacted via digital wallets. In response, 62% said it would inconvenience them as they use wallets for regular/daily payments, 26% said they would be forced to shift back to bank/UPI for higher-value payments and 17% said they would be forced to shift to cash. Among the respondents, 19% felt it would reduce their rewards and offers, another 19% felt it would reduce their exposure and make them feel safer from fraud, 31% said it would not affect them much. Importantly, 38% of users stated that reducing limits won’t curb fraud and will only penalise genuine users. This question in the survey received 21,356 responses. (Some respondents selected more than one option and hence the total does not equate to 100%.)

To summarise, the survey makes it clear that digital wallet users overwhelmingly do not want the RBI to reduce the amount of money that can be stored or transacted via digital wallets. With 63% of users wanting limits retained or increased and only 7% in favour of a reduction, the message from consumers is that digital wallets have become an everyday financial tool rather than a fringe convenience. As wallet usage deepens across tier 1, tier 2 and smaller towns, users appear to view higher or stable limits as essential to managing their daily payments seamlessly.

The concern around the proposed reduction is rooted in real-world impact. 62% of users say a reduction would inconvenience their regular payments, while sizeable proportions say they would be pushed back to bank/UPI for higher-value payments (26%) or even to cash (17%) – an outcome at odds with the broader push towards a digital, less-cash economy. With 38% of users asserting that lower limits won’t curb fraud and will only penalise genuine users, there is clear scepticism about whether reducing limits, particularly the sharp cut in monthly cash top-up from ₹50,000 to ₹10,000 proposed in the draft PPI Directions, will achieve its stated objective.

LocalCircles will be escalating these survey findings with the RBI and other stakeholders as part of the public consultation on the draft Master Direction on Prepaid Payment Instruments, 2026. While users broadly welcome measures that improve security, interoperability and faster refunds, the survey suggests that the central bank should reconsider any reduction in wallet storage and transaction limits, and instead consider retaining or increasing them – potentially linking higher limits to the level of KYC/authentication completed by the user, an approach 23% of users have endorsed.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 43,000 responses from users of digital wallets located across 304 districts of India. 66% respondents were men while 34% respondents were women. 42% of respondents were from tier 1, 33% from tier 2 and 25% respondents were from tier 3, 4, 5 & rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.

About LocalCircles

LocalCircles, India’s leading Community Social Media platform enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enables the Government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric. LocalCircles is also India’s # 1 pollster on issues of governance, public and consumer interest. More about LocalCircles can be found on http://www.localcircles.com

Media Contact: media@localcircles.com, +91-8585909866

A year after Ahmedabad crash, safety still shapes how India flies: 3 in 10 travellers check aircraft type before booking, finds LocalCircles survey

A year after Ahmedabad crash, safety still shapes how India flies: 3 in 10 travellers check aircraft type before booking, finds LocalCircles survey

New Delhi [India], June 12: One year ago today, Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick, crashed moments after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground – India’s deadliest aviation disaster in decades. A year on, with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s final report still awaited, a new nationwide survey by LocalCircles shows that the tragedy has left a lasting imprint on how Indians fly: 3 in 10 airline travellers say they now check the aircraft type before booking or travelling, and a similar proportion believe airlines have been cutting corners on safety.

The intervening year has given fliers little reason to relax. In February 2026, another Air India Boeing 787’s fuel control switch reportedly moved to ‘CUTOFF’ twice during engine start-up at Heathrow – an unsettling echo of the AI171 preliminary findings – while a SpiceJet Delhi-Leh flight returned with an engine snag and an IndiGo aircraft clipped an Air India plane while taxiing at Mumbai. In April, a SpiceJet aircraft struck a stationary Akasa Air plane at Delhi’s Terminal 1. May brought an emergency slide evacuation of an IndiGo flight in Chandigarh after a power bank fire, and a full emergency at Delhi airport after an engine fire warning on an Air India flight from Bengaluru. The DGCA’s own audit of 754 commercial aircraft found 377 – exactly half – with recurring technical defects.

It is against this backdrop that LocalCircles surveyed airline fliers to gauge perceptions on air safety. The survey received over 85,000 responses from airline fliers located across 312 districts of India.

3 in 10 fliers say airlines have often been cutting corners on safety protocols

The survey first asked airline fliers, “In your or your family’s experience of flying on India based airlines in the last 3 years, how did you/they find the adherence of airlines to flight safety protocols?” Of the 31,070 who responded, only 16% said they found adherence to safety protocols “always perfect”; 52% found it “mostly fine, but there have been some exceptions”; and 32% said airlines “always are generally cutting corners”. In effect, 3 in 10 fliers of India based airlines surveyed say they have often found airlines cutting corners on safety protocols in the last 3 years.

5 in 10 avoid SpiceJet, 2 in 10 avoid Air India due to safety concerns

Perception translates directly into booking behaviour. Asked “Due to safety reasons what all India based airlines you generally avoid when making a flight booking for yourself or family?”, some among the 28,813 respondents selected more than one airline: 55% indicated SpiceJet; 24% indicated Air India; 13% indicated IndiGo; 13% indicated Akasa; 31% said they “don’t avoid any particular airlines”; and 3% did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 5 in 10 fliers surveyed avoid flying SpiceJet while 2 in 10 avoid Air India due to safety reasons.

3 in 10 fliers are checking aircraft type before booking or travelling

The survey then asked, “These days when you plan air travel, what all do you look at before booking/travelling?” Among 25,223 respondents, many of whom indicated multiple factors, 93% said “air fare” dictates their travel plans; 79% indicated “flight timings”; 51% indicated “airline”; 47% indicated “flight connection and duration”; 29% indicated “aircraft type”; 7% indicated other parameters; 4% did not give a clear answer; and 7% said they have not booked any air travel lately. Notably, with 51% choosing on the basis of airline, carrier reputation now outweighs fare alone for a majority – and 3 in 10 fliers checking aircraft type is a behaviour that was rare before June 2025.

Travellers want DGCA and airlines to do more

The findings indicate that a year after Ahmedabad, safety has become a durable factor in Indian air travel decisions, not a passing anxiety. While DGCA has intensified surveillance – conducting 12 regulatory and 29 special audits in the first months of 2026, against 56 regulatory and 9 special audits in all of 2025 – the continued snags, ground collisions and emergency landings between February and June 2026 suggest the corrective journey is far from complete. LocalCircles believes the regulator must ensure time-bound publication of investigation findings, starting with the AI171 final report, and hold airlines accountable for recurring defects, while airlines must invest in maintenance, training and transparent communication. LocalCircles plans to share the results of this study with DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation so that the concerns of air travellers are addressed properly.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 85,000 responses from airline fliers located across 312 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 45% respondents were from tier 1, 30% from tier 2 and 25% respondents were from tier 3, 4 & 5 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.

About LocalCircles

LocalCircles, India’s leading Community Social Media platform enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enables the Government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric. LocalCircles is also India’s # 1 pollster on issues of governance, public and consumer interest. More about LocalCircles can be found on http://www.localcircles.com