Unified Payments Interface (UPI) continues to evolve, making digital payments quicker and more efficient. Starting today, June 16, UPI transactions will now be processed faster.
According to the official release, the changes are expected to benefit sender banks, beneficiary banks, and payment service providers (PSPs) such as PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.
In addition to faster transactions, new rules related to balance checks and auto-payment mandates are also set to roll out starting July. These updates aim to enhance user experience and streamline the overall UPI process.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the UPI system, announced in a circular dated April 26, 2025, that efforts are underway to reduce response times and enhance the overall performance of UPI transactions. The official statement mentioned that these improvements will benefit sender banks, beneficiary banks, and payment service providers (PSPs) like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.
“The above changes are intended to enhance the customer experience,” the NPCI stated in the circular. “All members must update their systems to ensure responses are managed within the revised timelines. Any dependencies or configuration changes required at the partner or merchant end should also be addressed accordingly.”
A circular issued on May 21, 2025, said that the UPI system is set to implement other key changes from August. “The PSP Banks and/or Acquiring Banks shall ensure that all API requests (in terms of velocity and TPS – transaction per second limit) sent to the UPI are monitored and moderated in terms of fair usage (customer-initiated and PSP system-initiated),” the circular said.
From checking balance to checking transactions, the additional set of guidelines included several key changes.
Balance Check: As per the official release, 50 attempts per day will be available for each user to check the available balance through the UPI app.
List Account: It allows customers to search the list of accounts linked to their mobile by a particular account provider. 25 per app will be available per customer per day, NPCI said.
Autopay mandate execution: A maximum of 1 attempt and 3 re-attempts will be allowed per mandate (per sequence number), which will be initiated during non-peak hours. Peak hours are defined as the period during the day when UPI financial transactions reach the highest transactions per second. It is observed from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
“Members are requested to take note of this compliance requirement and communicate it to the relevant stakeholders and their respective partners for implementation by July 31, 2025,” the circular said.