NPCI introduces new guidelines for UPI transactions: What you need to know?

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is introducing new guidelines for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) number-based transactions effective April 1, 2025. These guidelines are set to strengthen security features, avoid fraudulent activities, and enhance customer experience in UPI transactions.

Principal features of the new guidelines

• Banks and Payment Service Provider (PSP) apps should update weekly mobile number records in order to prevent transaction processing faults.
•  The UPI users will have to explicitly opt-in for seeding the UPI number to ensure there is transparency and clear consent process.
• Requesting consent can neither be solicited during, nor before transaction steps, for purposes of giving priority to the user's wish and data sovereignty.

Implementation and compliance

Everybody participating in the UPI framework, such as banks, applications, and third-party participants, should onboard the fresh updates up to March 31, 2025. Complaining with the specified deadlines is inevitable for ensuring cohesive implementation throughout the network.

Effect on UPI rivals

UPI rivals such as Google Pay and Paytm will have to adjust their business processes according to the new rules. This merging of systems is required to ensure the reliability and efficiency of their services.