a new set of rules governing the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system will come into effect. For those who frequently use platforms like Paytm, PhonePe, GPay, or other UPI-based services, it’s essential to understand how these changes may affect your daily transactions.
UPI New Rules
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the UPI ecosystem, is introducing these changes to help ease congestion, reduce transaction delays, and ensure smoother functioning of the system during peak usage hours. While these changes might not impact day-to-day payments at your local store, they are primarily focused on reducing system overloads due to repeated requests like balance checks and transaction status refreshes.
Key Changes to UPI Rules:
1. Limited Balance Checks and Status Updates:
Starting August 1, UPI users will be limited to checking their account balance 50 times per day. Additionally, users will only be able to check the linked bank accounts 25 times per day. The idea behind this is to minimize unnecessary traffic that can slow down the system during peak hours.
2. Fixed Time Slots for UPI AutoPay:
Another major update is the introduction of fixed time slots for UPI AutoPay transactions. This will impact regular payments such as subscriptions, utility bills, and EMIs. These payments will be processed at scheduled times during the day, instead of being randomly handled throughout the day. This change aims to reduce platform congestion and improve the speed of transactions during regular hours.
3. Will These Changes Affect All UPI Users?
Yes, these new rules will apply to all UPI users, whether you’re making just one payment or many transactions a day. However, if you are not one of those users who frequently check balance updates or transaction statuses, you are unlikely to notice much of a difference. These rules are mainly designed to help heavy users who tend to overload the system with repetitive requests.
4. No Change in UPI Payment Limits:
For those who are concerned about their transaction limits, there’s good news. The maximum UPI payment cap remains unchanged. Users can still transfer up to ₹1 lakh per transaction in most cases. For specific categories like healthcare or education, the limit will still be ₹5 lakh per transaction.
Impact on Businesses and Merchants:
While the new rules may affect individuals, businesses relying on automated UPI collections, such as recurring payments, will need to adjust their systems to align with the new fixed time slots for AutoPay. For most users, however, payments for things like mobile recharges or subscriptions will continue to work as usual.
Do You Need to Take Any Action?
There’s no immediate action required from users for these changes. They will be implemented automatically in UPI apps. However, it’s essential to be aware of the new limits to avoid unnecessary transaction blocks or delays.
