From August 1, users of UPI in India will experience a set of new regulations introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) with the aim of enhancing system efficiency, security, and simplifying payment operations.
In a recent circular, NPCI directed all stakeholders of the UPI ecosystem—banks and payment service providers—to implement these guidelines by July 31.
One significant amendment is limiting the number of balance enquiries made by a user through UPI apps. Every app will now only allow up to 50 user-generated balance checks per customer per day, as measured on a rolling basis over 24 hours. As the limit is per app, users may still be able to check their balances on other apps if necessary.
NPCI made it clear that these balance requests have to be initiated manually by users—auto-prompt from apps is not permitted.
Further, the bank will be obligated to display the updated available account balance to the user after each successful UPI transaction.
To deal with congestion on the network during busy times, the NPCI introduced dedicated windows for processing regular UPI payments. Auto-pay transactions scheduled in advance can now be done only during three time slots:
Prior to 10:00 a.m.
Between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Post 9:30 p.m.
UPI busy hours—between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and between 5:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.—are now excluded from auto-pay processing to ease the stress on the network.
New usage limitations on how often users can use the following features:
Viewing connected bank accounts: 25 times per day.
Checking status of pending payments: Allowed only three times, at least 90 seconds apart between attempts.
Requesting reversals of payments: Limited to 10 per month, with no more than five by the sender.
In a move to eliminate errors and fraudulent transfers, it is now mandatory for all UPI apps to display the receiver's bank name registered before a user authorizes a transaction. This is in an effort to guide users to verify whether they are transferring money to the right person or organization.
The NPCI has sent a strong warning to players in the ecosystem: non-compliance with these new standards may lead to severe repercussions. It includes monetary fines, onboarding bans for new users, or even restricted UPI API access.
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