New rules of NPCI will come into effect from August 1, under which additional charges may be levied on frequent UPI balance checks or small transactions. Users have been advised to change their digital habits. The limit of free UPI transactions will be fixed. Additional charges may be levied on frequent small transactions or balance inquiries.
UPI (Unified Payments Interface) has been a revolutionary step in the world of digital payments, which inspired people to move towards cashless transactions. Today, millions of Indians send and receive money every day through UPI based apps like Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe, or just open the app to check balance.
But if you are also used to checking balance several times a day or making small transactions, then now this habit may have to be changed. NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) has announced to implement some new rules from August 1, 2025, which will directly affect UPI users.
New rules will be implemented from August 1
According to the new rules to be implemented from August 1, 2025, the limit of free UPI transactions will be fixed. Now a limit will be set on how many times you can check balance or transact with UPI in a day. Additional charges may be levied on repeated small transactions or balance inquiries.
Users cannot check balance during peak hours
NPCI has described 10 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 9:30 pm as ‘peak hours’. API requests will be limited during these times. If you check your bank balance or check transaction status several times during this time, the bank may give you a message of ‘Try again later’. NPCI says that important transactions should get priority during this time. To ensure that the user does not check the balance multiple times on the app, the bank will also have to ensure that the user gets balance information after every transaction.
Users using UPI autopay for services like Netflix, Prime or SIP, insurance can avail this facility only during non-peak hours. That is, this facility will not be given to the users from 10 am to 1 pm and 5:30 pm to 9 pm. According to NPCI, there will be only one attempt for each autopay mandate and it can be tried a maximum of 3 times, but all these attempts will also be valid within TPS limit and non-peak time.
Reason for taking the decision
In the last few months, after receiving complaints of delay of more than 90 seconds and crash of UPI system, some people demanded to impose a charge on UPI so that its service can be improved. Although NPCI refused to impose the charge, it has started imposing a limit during peak time.
Its effect on common users
If you open the UPI app several times a day to check your balance, then now you will have to be careful about it. After the new system, you may have to pay a fee for repeatedly checking the balance or making small transactions. Therefore, it is important that users change their habits and use UPI more thoughtfully.
