New UPI rules from August 1: What changes for balance checks, autopay and more?

New UPI rules are coming into effect from August 1st. So, what are these changes? How will they affect you? Let's find out.

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Rules changing from August 1st.

Checking your balance via UPI often? Limits are being imposed on such services. New UPI rules are coming into effect from August 1st. Let's find out what these new rules are.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that it will implement some limits on UPI transactions from August 1st. NPCI has advised banks and payment service providers to control the usage of 10 frequently used features on the UPI network. So what are these changes?

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Balance Enquiry Limit:

A user can only check their balance 50 times in 24 hours within a single app. For example, if you use both Paytm and PhonePe, you can only check your balance 50 times in 24 hours on each app. This could be inconvenient for those who check their balance frequently. UPI apps have been advised to limit or suspend balance inquiries during peak hours. They have also been advised to notify the user's account balance after each transaction.

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Time Limit for Autopay Mandates:

UPI Autopay mandates (like SIPs, Netflix subscriptions) will only work during off-peak hours. Only one attempt with a maximum of 3 retries is allowed for a mandate. Autopay mandates can be created during peak hours, but they will only be processed during off-peak hours.

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Limit for checking transaction status:

There are also limits for checking transaction status. The first check should be done only 90 seconds after the transaction is completed. You can check a maximum of three times within two hours. If there is an error, the transaction is considered failed, and repeated checking is discouraged.

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Limit for getting account list:

There's a service called 'Account List Request' in UPI to view all bank accounts linked to a user's mobile number. This is useful for managing different bank accounts on a single platform. Under the new rules, a user can only make this request a maximum of 25 times in 24 hours on a single UPI app.

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Why these limits?

NPCI stated that these limits are necessary to prevent system overload and maintain the stability of UPI infrastructure. In the past, system overload has caused disruptions in UPI services. These changes are being made to address this issue.