New Rules for UPI Payment
Get ready for a smoother and more dependable digital payment experience! Starting August 1, 2025, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is set to introduce some major updates to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. These new guidelines will apply to all UPI apps, including PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm, and are aimed at speeding up transactions, enhancing security, and boosting overall reliability by fine-tuning system performance.
Recently, the staggering number of UPI transactions—over 16 billion each month in India—has occasionally led to system overloads, resulting in delays and some outages. The upcoming changes are designed to tackle these issues by limiting excessive API requests, like frequent balance checks and repeated transaction status updates, which have previously put a strain on the system.
Here’s a closer look at the key changes and what they mean for you:
Key Updates to UPI Rules from August 1, 2025
The new guidelines mainly aim to enhance system efficiency and improve user experience. While most of your everyday transactions won’t be impacted, understanding these new limits will help you navigate the UPI ecosystem with ease.
| Feature | Current Practice (Pre-Aug 1, 2025) | New Rule (From Aug 1, 2025) | Impact on Users |
| Balance Check Limits | Generally unlimited | Restricted to 50 times per day per app | Users who often check their balance might need to adjust their habits. This change helps lighten the system load. |
| View Linked Bank Accounts | Generally unlimited | Restricted to 25 times daily across all UPI applications | Just like balance checks, this is designed to make better use of system resources. |
| Autopay Transaction Windows | Processed anytime | Processed only during specific time slots | Autopayments for subscriptions, bills, and EMIs will now happen during designated windows, which helps distribute server load more evenly. Each autopay attempt is limited to one try, with a maximum of three retries. |
| Account Deactivation Rule | No strict inactivity deactivation | UPI-linked mobile number inactive for 90 days = account deactivated | This ensures that accounts remain active and secure, preventing the misuse of inactive numbers. Users need to keep their registered mobile numbers active. |
| Transaction Status Checks | Can be refreshed frequently | Limited to 3 checks per transaction, with a 90-second gap between checks | This aims to cut down on system congestion caused by constant status refreshes for a single transaction. |
Why These Changes? The Bigger Picture
The NPCI is taking proactive steps to ensure that the UPI infrastructure stays stable and efficient as it experiences rapid growth. With UPI making up an impressive 85% of all digital transactions in India and driving nearly half of the world’s real-time digital payments, it’s crucial to keep it strong and reliable. The aim is to enhance UPI into an even more trustworthy and scalable platform as India’s digital economy continues to thrive.
Other Important Considerations for UPI Users in 2025
Let’s dive into some important points about UPI payments that you should keep in mind:
Stable General Transaction Limits: For most UPI payments, the daily transaction limit stays at ₹1 lakh. However, for specific sectors like healthcare and education, this limit can go up to ₹5 lakh per transaction. This ensures that when it comes to essential services, high-value transactions can happen smoothly.
Interchange Fees for PPI Transactions: While UPI transactions linked to bank accounts are still free for users, there are now interchange fees for certain UPI transactions made with Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), like digital wallets. These fees usually range from 0.5% to 1.1% of the transaction amount and are charged to merchants for transactions over ₹2,000. This change is aimed at keeping payment service providers financially sustainable.
What this means for you: If you’re making UPI payments directly from your linked bank account, you won’t face any direct charges. However, if you use your wallet to pay a merchant via UPI, the merchant might have to pay a small fee, but they typically won’t pass that cost onto you.
Enhanced Security Measures: The NPCI is committed to keeping your transactions safe. This includes regular mobile number verification and stricter rules around “collect” payments to help reduce fraud and improve user safety.
UPI Lite and UPI 123Pay: For smaller, offline transactions, UPI Lite lets you make payments of up to ₹500 per transaction, with a daily limit of ₹4,000 and a maximum balance of ₹2,000. UPI 123Pay, which is tailored for feature phone users, has a limit of ₹10,000 per transaction. These options are designed to promote financial inclusion and make things easier for everyone.
Adapting to the New UPI Landscape
As a UPI user, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind. First off, be aware of the limits on balance checks and remember that autopayments will now follow specific processing windows. It’s also super important to make sure your mobile number linked to UPI is active and verified to prevent any hiccups in service.
These new guidelines really show NPCI’s dedication to enhancing the digital payment experience in India. By adapting to these changes, we’re all playing a part in creating a more efficient, secure, and scalable UPI ecosystem for everyone.