UPI Payment: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the implementation of important new rules to further improve UPI (Unified Payments Interface) from August 1, 2025. These changes are being made to make the UPI system more stable and reliable so that recent technical disruptions can be avoided.
NPCI says that these changes will strengthen the technical system and will be much easier for the common people. But, it will have a direct impact on some daily tasks, about which it is extremely important for you to know. Lest any of your important transactions get stuck in the middle.
What changes are being made
NPCI has instructed banks and payment service providers (PSPs) to control the 10 most used APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) by July 31, 2025. These APIs operate many important functions like balance check, autopay, and transaction status.
Balance Check Limit
Now you will be able to check your balance only 50 times a day on any one UPI app. This will reduce unnecessary pressure on the system. Those who have a habit of checking balance frequently will have to take care of this limit.
Limit to Check Linked Accounts
You will be able to see the list of bank accounts linked to your mobile number only 25 times a day. This is also to reduce the load on the system.
Autopay Timing
Autopay (like SIP, Netflix payments, and bill payments) will now happen only during off-peak hours. That is, before 10 am, between 1 pm and 5 pm, or after 9:30 pm. 1 attempt and 3 retries will be allowed for each autopay.
This may change the timing of your subscription or regular payment. For example, if your subscription used to happen in the afternoon, now it may happen in the morning or at night. You have to ensure that your account has sufficient balance at that time.
Transaction Status Delay
Now the API call to check the “Transaction Status” will have to be made in turn. As per NPCI rules, the status of a transaction cannot be checked more than 3 times. A gap of 90 seconds is required between each request. If your transaction is pending, you will not know its status immediately, and you will have to wait for some time.
Why are these changes necessary
UPI has become the largest medium of digital payments in India. It handles 83% of the total digital transactions. In May 2025, UPI processed more than 18 billion transactions, worth more than ₹25.14 lakh crore.
But between March 26 and April 12, 2025, the UPI system crashed 4 times in 18 days. The longest interruption was for 5 hours on April 12. These disruptions were caused by high pressure on the system and misuse of APIs, especially the “Check Transactions” API.
NPCI found that some PSPs were also repeatedly checking the status of old transactions, which was slowing down the system. To fix these problems, NPCI has made strict rules to control the use of APIs and checking Transactions Per Second (TPS).
What will be the impact on common people
These changes will be easy for most users, but some things have to be kept in mind:
Balance checking habit
People who have a habit of checking their balance frequently will have to keep in mind the limit of 50 times a day. This may cause some inconvenience to some people.
Autopay scheduling
Autopay will now happen during less crowded times. This may change the timing of your subscription or regular payment. If you maintain a balance in your account, this will not cause any major problems.
Fast and Stable System
These rules will reduce interruptions in UPI. This will provide fast and uninterrupted service to more than 40 crore users. A one-minute interruption can stop about 4 lakh transactions, so it is extremely important to stabilize the system.