Major UPI System Overhaul from August 1

New Delhi: Starting August 1, 2025, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will undergo significant operational changes aimed at reducing network congestion and ensuring a smoother digital transaction experience. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has issued a directive limiting the usage of 10 critical Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) within the UPI ecosystem. All banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are required to implement these changes by July 31, 2025.These APIs govern essential UPI functions such as balance inquiries, transaction status checks, and autopay mandate execution. The move is designed to ease the processing burden on the UPI network, which has witnessed massive user growth, leading to potential outages during peak hours.As per the NPCI’s circular dated May 21, 2025, PSPs and banks are required to monitor API usage strictly, ensuring that all API calls—both user-initiated and system-generated—adhere to defined rate limits. Failure to comply may result in penalties, restrictions on API access, or even suspension of new customer onboarding.Key Changes Effective from August 1, 2025:Balance Enquiries: Limited to 50 requests per app per user per day, allowing multiple apps like Paytm or PhonePe to each provide up to 50 checks.Linked Account Queries: Capped at 25 per day per app, with mandatory user consent.Autopay Mandates: Execution restricted to non-peak hours (outside 10 AM–1 PM and 5 PM–9:30 PM), with only one attempt and up to three retries permitted per mandate.Transaction Status Checks: A mandatory 90-second wait is required before initiating the first status check post-authentication. Only three checks allowed per transaction within a two-hour window.System-Initiated API Calls: Prohibited during peak hours to reduce server load.Additionally, banks must submit compliance undertakings by August 31, 2025, confirming their adherence to API throttling norms. Acquiring banks are also mandated to undergo annual system audits by auditors approved by CERT-In, beginning the same date.This regulatory overhaul underscores NPCI’s focus on maintaining UPI's reliability and scalability in the face of rising digital payment traffic.