Video KYC (V-CIP): The Only eKYC Method Without RBI’s ₹1 Lakh Cap

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.