DPI Brief — August 12, 2026

UPI Expands to Sri Lankan Ride-Hailing; BRICS Discusses CBDC Interoperability

L2 — Payments: India’s payments infrastructure diplomacy continues to accelerate. NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) announced a partnership with Sri Lanka’s ride-hailing platform PickMe, enabling Indian tourists to pay for rides via UPI and receive a flat 20% discount per trip (capped at LKR 750). This is the latest in a series of UPI integrations across Sri Lanka, which has seen international UPI transactions surge from 180 in 2022 to over 7.5 lakh in 2025 — a 20-fold increase. With India remaining Sri Lanka’s largest tourism source market (5.31 lakh Indian visitors in 2025), the integration targets everyday consumer use cases rather than just merchant payments. UPI for Indian Travelers @ Lanka With PickMe Rides — FinTech Biz News

In a parallel development at the policy layer, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed at the FIBAC 2026 conference that BRICS member nations are actively discussing linkages between their fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The discussions, still at the “exploratory” stage, encompass connecting India’s UPI with counterpart systems and potentially interoperating CBDCs for cross-border trade and remittances. The RBI had earlier recommended that CBDC interconnection be included in the agenda for the 2026 BRICS summit, which India will host. UPI processed a record 23.66 billion transactions worth approximately ₹29.88 lakh crore in July 2026 alone, accounting for roughly 49% of global real-time payment volumes. BRICS nations discuss linking payment systems and CBDCs — Reuters

GI Products Get ‘Bharat GI’ Push on ONDC and GeM

L4 — Commerce: The DPIIT and MSME Ministry signed an MoU to expand market access for India’s Geographical Indication (GI) products through digital commerce platforms, particularly ONDC and GeM. The initiative — dubbed “Bharat GI” — aims to onboard GI collectives and authorised users onto these government-backed digital marketplaces, enabling artisans and producers of products like Darjeeling tea, Kanchipuram silk, and Mysore sandalwood to reach wider domestic and international buyers. The MoU covers digital onboarding assistance, trade fair access, and funding support. GeM is also coming up with enhanced security postures for its procurement platform, as noted by BEML in a recent statement. GI products to get ‘Bharat GI’ push on ONDC, GeM — CNBC TV18

Karnataka Permits Aadhaar-Based Identification of Unidentified Bodies

L1 — Identity: The Karnataka Police has introduced a new framework allowing Aadhaar-based identification of unidentified bodies — but strictly as a last resort after a 72-hour waiting period during which conventional identification methods must first be exhausted. The policy reflects the expanding scope of Aadhaar’s use in law enforcement while attempting to balance it with procedural safeguards. This move raises questions about mission creep in identity infrastructure: Aadhaar was designed for service delivery and benefits disbursement, not forensic identification. Civil liberties advocates will likely scrutinise whether the 72-hour guardrail is sufficient, and whether the UIDAI has been consulted on the expanded use case. How Karnataka set Aadhaar rules for identifying bodies — Medianama

CERT-In Flags Rising AI-Driven Cyber Threats

L7 — Trust: CERT-In has issued a major advisory warning that “frontier” AI technologies are rapidly transforming the cyber threat landscape in India. The alert notes that advanced AI models can now independently discover vulnerabilities, generate exploits, and launch multi-pronged attacks at scale with minimal human involvement. Key risks include highly targeted phishing (realistic emails, deepfake video impersonation), AI-assisted vulnerability scanning that dramatically lowers the barrier for attackers, and mass-targeted scams against banking and healthcare systems. CERT-In recommends immediate patching of known vulnerabilities (including CIVN-2026-0205), unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, and enabling automatic security updates. The advisory underscores a widening gap: AI capabilities for attack are outpacing defensive infrastructure, particularly for individual users and smaller enterprises. CERT-In Warning 2026: AI Cyber Threats — DQ India