Most digital KYC methods in India come with a catch most fintechs learn about only after they’ve built around it: OTP-based Aadhaar eKYC caps the customer’s transaction value. Video KYC is the one method that doesn’t.
Why OTP-based eKYC has a cap
Under RBI’s KYC Master Direction, OTP-based Aadhaar authentication for eKYC is treated as a lighter-weight verification method — convenient and fully digital, but not equivalent to in-person verification. As a result, accounts opened via OTP-based eKYC alone are subject to a cap: transaction value is limited to ₹1 lakh per year per customer. For a lot of use cases — savings accounts, small-ticket lending — that cap is fine. For anything beyond it, it’s a hard ceiling.
What V-CIP (Para 19) requires for face-to-face equivalence
Video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP), covered under Para 19 of the KYC Master Direction, is RBI’s digitally-native alternative that’s treated as equivalent to in-person, face-to-face verification. It requires a live video interaction between the customer and an authorized official (or an RBI-approved automated equivalent), during which the customer’s identity documents are shown and verified in real time, along with a liveness check to confirm a live person — not a photo or recording — is present.
When lenders actually need it
Any account or product where the ₹1 lakh/year cap is a real constraint — full-value savings accounts, most lending products, anything beyond micro-transactions — needs V-CIP rather than OTP-eKYC alone to fully onboard the customer without that ceiling. It’s also the right choice for entities that want one consistent, fully-digital onboarding flow rather than routing some customers through a lighter eKYC path and others through branch verification.
Veriqos’s Face Match & Liveness API is the component most directly relevant to building a V-CIP flow — real-time liveness detection is a required piece of the Para 19 process, not an optional add-on.
This article references the ₹1 lakh/year OTP-eKYC cap and Para 19 V-CIP requirements under RBI’s KYC Master Direction. Verify both figures against the latest KYC Master Direction text before relying on them for compliance purposes.
More about Video KYC
To learn more about Video KYC, explore our Video KYC Solution and Face Match & Liveness Detection API, or talk to our team. For the official source, see the RBI’s Master Direction on KYC.
