New UPI Rules Take Effect from August 1

New Delhi, Aug 1 — The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has rolled out a new set of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) rules, effective August 1, aimed at boosting security, transparency, and app performance across platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.

Key changes users need to know:

• Bank Balance Checks:
  Users can now check their bank balance up to 50 times a day. UPI apps may temporarily restrict balance checks during peak traffic hours. Additionally, users will now see their available balance with every transaction.
• Autopay Transactions:
  Auto payments will only be processed during non-peak hours:
  • Before 10:00 AM
  • Between 1:00 PM–5:00 PM
  • After 9:30 PM
    Autopay transactions scheduled during peak hours may be executed earlier or later. Failed payments will be retried, and cancelled if retries fail.
• Bank Details Access:
  Users can now view banks linked to their mobile number up to 25 times daily, but access must be user-initiated by selecting the issuer bank in the app.
• Transaction Status:
  Pending payments will now update more quickly, and users can check the status of a payment only 3 times, with a 90-second interval between attempts.
• Recipient Name Display:
  To reduce fraud, the recipient’s registered name will be shown before every transfer, alongside the transaction ID.
• Penalties for Non-Compliance:
  NPCI has warned of API restrictions, onboarding suspensions, and monetary fines for apps that do not comply.

Why it matters:

According to NPCI, the rules are designed to reduce fraud, manage server loads, and give users more control over their transactions while ensuring seamless and secure digital payments.