UPI transactions to face new rules from July 31: Here are the changes

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is set to introduce major modifications to UPI from July 31, 2025, to improve the overall reliability, security, and efficiency of the system, mitigate risks linked to system congestion and fraud, and ensure a better digital payment experience for users.

Key limits on non-financial transactions

Users can expect limits on certain UPI non-financial transactions under the new regulations. As such, balance inquiries will be limited to 50 per day. Furthermore, balance inquiries and autopay mandates during peak hours—10am to 1pm and 5pm to 9:30pm—will not be allowed. Autopay mandates would also only work during non-peak hours. These controls are intended to relieve unnecessary burden on the UPI system so users can have a better experience when using digital payment. Banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) will have to comply with these regulations by July 31, 2025.

Banning same-account transactions

To put an end to the misuse of the UPI system, NPCI will ban transactions where the accounts of the payer and payee are the same. This type of transaction is being exploited to obtain cashback rewards without actually transferring funds. With the banning of same-account transactions, NPCI wants to control congestion in the UPI system and reduce fraudulent activities.

Technical compliance measures

To standardise transaction processing, NPCI has directed that all UPI transaction IDs are of 35 characters in length, and must include only alphabets and numbers, and cannot include special characters. If a transaction ID has special characters such as @, ! or #, the transaction will be rejected by the system. This is to enhance the security of transactions, as well as adhere to technical specifications.

These extensive modifications reflect NPCI's dedication to ensuring that the UPI ecosystem remains reliable and efficient. Users should acknowledge such updates and modify their consumption so that UPI services can be accessed with ease. Users will help support a stable and secure digital payments ecosystem by adhering to the aforementioned recommendations.