Starting August 1, 2025, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), introduces updated new UPI rules affecting users of apps like Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay. These changes aim to enhance system efficiency, reduce server strain, and bolster security for over 6 billion monthly transactions.
Details of New UPI Rules
Users are now limited to 50 balance checks per day per UPI app, a measure to curb excessive API calls that slowed services during peak hours (10 AM–1 PM and 5 PM–9:30 PM) in early 2025. Viewing linked bank accounts is capped at 25 times daily, requiring users to select their bank before initiating requests. To offset the balance check limit, apps will display account balances after every successful transaction.
Autopay transactions, such as subscriptions, EMIs, and utility bills, will process during non-peak hours—before 10 AM, between 1 PM and 5 PM, or after 9:30 PM—to ease network congestion. Transaction status checks are restricted to three attempts per payment, with a 90-second gap between each, ensuring faster resolution of pending payments within seconds.
To combat fraud, the recipient’s registered name and transaction ID will appear before confirming payments, reducing errors and scams. NPCI has also set a limit of 10 payment reversal requests per 30 days, with a maximum of five per sender. Non-compliance by banks or apps could lead to penalties, API restrictions, or onboarding bans, as outlined in NPCI’s May 21, 2025, circular.
What’s Next
These updates, automatically applied via UPI apps, maintain existing transaction limits—₹1 lakh for most cases and ₹5 lakh for sectors like healthcare and education. While casual users may notice minimal changes, frequent balance checkers and businesses relying on autopay should adapt to the new constraints to avoid disruptions.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, August 1st, 2025
Follow SouthAsianDesk on X, Instagram, and Facebook for insights on business and current affairs from across South Asia.
