Utilizing UPI ID as an Universal ID and a consent manager

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When you enter a bus in Bangalore, you’ll notice two QR codes: one for paying for the ticket via UPI and another for validating a bus pass. Both essentially identify the bus. A fellow passenger showed me that the UPI ID or VPA is always in the format bus number@cnrb, such as ka01f9092@cnrb for a metro feeder I recently boarded. The bus pass validation also needs to identify the bus, so the UPI ID could serve both purposes.

This concept can be expanded further. What if the VPA is linked to a shop front on ONDC, allowing passengers to buy tickets directly? This could simplify the ticketing process, eliminating the need to wait for the conductor to navigate through the crowd. Buses wouldn’t need to wait at key points just for ticketing, enabling self-service ticket booking for most passengers.

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) aims to provide a single card for multiple mobility systems. However, a typical daily commute often involves mixed modes of transport—metro, bus, and maybe an auto. NCMC does not necessarily aim to address all these needs.  Simplified UPI based payment could be far easier and scalable.

Metro systems already support QR ticket purchases via UPI, offering the same discounts. However, I prefer using my Metro card (which could be an NCMC) because it’s more convenient. You just scan in and out without needing to choose boarding and deboarding points.

Similarly, what if we could scan our UPI ID while boarding and deboarding buses or metro? The ticket amount could be debited from our UPI wallet without extra authentication. This needs a new kind of UPI wallet that requires no authentication for small mobility related transactions.  This would be as convenient as using a card.

In these scenarios, the UPI ID serves as an identity—either for the bus or for the passenger. Both are valuable. Today, Aadhaar and phone numbers are key sources of identity, but they reveal more information than necessary. Leveraging UPI’s success, the UPI ID could evolve into a common-use ID, identifying individuals, stores, providers, etc. Besides facilitating payments, it could link to storefronts, reducing friction in daily activities.

For example, I already order medicines from my neighborhood pharmacy via WhatsApp. What if I could use the pharmacy’s VPA to access a storefront and place orders? My previous orders could be remembered, allowing quick reordering. Alternatively, the pharmacy could use my UPI ID to offer repeat services, making payment requests and medicines quickly. My pharmacist mentioned that due to GST, he is motivated to issue bills but finds the process cumbersome.  So he batches them during free time. There’s an opportunity to simplify the process so that the process of ordering, billing and payment can all be formalized as a uniform method.

UPI has more potential. The approval process could serve as an authentication method. The RBI has been encouraging alternatives to OTP, but progress has been slow. What if a credit card approval request came as a UPI payment request for a small amount, say 10 paise? The amount could be credited back, and the approval for the small payment could serve as authentication.

If this process can be expanded and better formalized - perhaps approvals for a certain amount can be more automated or via simple biometric confirmation. Larger ones can require a PIN. Even larger ones could require more active actions - maybe an OTP as well or a follow on callback. The possibilities to scale are immense. 

The process of UPI based consent could be extended for other purposes - for example consent to share Aadhar copy or a certificate on Digilocker etc. 

UPI has been a key success in Digital India. It holds possibilities beyond just payments. 


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