UPI is one of the fastest growing payment methods in India. Developed by NPCI in 2016, UPI has changed the way Indians spend and transfer money. In recent months, NPCI has made several changes to UPI payments. Here are the UPI payment changes coming in January and the proposed changes.
UPI transaction limit for these transactions increased
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced in December that the UPI transaction limit has been increased from 1,000 to 5,000. The UPI transaction limit for payments to hospitals and educational institutions has been raised to Rs 5,000, as announced by the RBI in its bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) notification in December. “The increase in transaction limits has been done to improve acceptance of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for online payments,” RBI governor Dr Shaktikant Das said.
Inactive UPI IDs to be deactivated
Last year, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) mandated payment apps such as google pay, paytm, PhonePe, among others, as well as banks, to deactivate any inactive UPI ID that has been inactive for more than 12 months by 31 December 2023. So, if you had an account that was inactive as we entered 2024, chances are that it was deactivated.
“The NPCI stated in an announcement that the decision was taken to avoid the accidental transfer of funds to unauthorised beneficiaries in the event that customers switch mobile numbers without disconnecting their old mobile number from the bank’s system.”
No authentication for UPI auto payments up to Rs 1 lakh
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently declared that UPI payments of up to Rs 1,00,000 in certain cases will no longer be subject to an additional AFA. The RBI governor said that the maximum amount of money that can be transferred without an additional AFA will be increased to Rs 15,000.
The RBI has raised the cap on e-mandates which are used for recurring payments such as credit card repayment, mutual fund subscription and insurance premium without an AFA.
Increase in UPI Lite wallet transaction limit
On the other hand, the transaction limit for the offline UPI Lite wallet has been increased from Rs200 to Rs500. The maximum transfer limit for the offline wallet is Rs2,000. Increase in the transaction limit is to encourage the use of the UPI Lite wallet in the areas where the internet connection is not available.
Interchange fee on certain UPI payments
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced in December that the UPI transaction limit has been increased from 1,000 to 5,000. The UPI transaction limit for payments to hospitals and educational institutions has been raised to Rs 5,000, as announced by the RBI in its bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) notification in December. “The increase in transaction limits has been done to improve acceptance of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for online payments,” RBI governor Dr Shaktikant Das said.
Proposed change: 4-hour limit to on some payments
In order to reduce the increasing number of online fraud cases, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed a time limit of 4 hours for users who make their first payments of more than 2,000 rupees to new beneficiaries. The new limit will apply every time a user makes the first payment of more than 2.000 rupees to another person with whom he has not previously interacted.
Proposed change: ‘UPI for Secondary Market’
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has also declared the launch of UPI for Secondary Market, which is currently in its Beta stage, and HDFC Bank has carried out transactions through the NPCI’s UPI payments app under the UPI for secondary market facility.
Proposed change: UPI ATM and ‘Tap and Pay’ functionality
The first and UPI-ATMsand Hitachi Payment Services has launched these in the country and UPI-White Label ATMsand in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) where users can easily withdraw cash by scanning a QR code from their bank account. Users of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will soon be able to tap and pay with their NFC-enabled smartphones..
