India’s UPI system is getting a major tune-up. Not a redesign. Not a rebrand. Just a necessary cleanup of how the system is used behind the scenes—and it’s starting on August 1, 2025. This isn’t about adding flashy features. It’s about fixing stress points. UPI is doing too much too fast, and the infrastructure started to feel it.
Let’s break down what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what it means for regular users, banks, and third-party apps like PhonePe, Paytm, and Google Pay.
The Core Problem: Too Many API Calls, Too Often
UPI has grown way beyond expectations. In May 2025 alone, there were over 18 billion UPI transactions, worth over ₹25.14 lakh crore. But all this traffic doesn’t just come from people sending and receiving money.
A large chunk of the load comes from apps constantly pinging the system.
Here’s what they do:
- Apps check if a transaction went through (again and again, sometimes multiple times per second).
- They let you check your bank balance frequently.
- They auto-fetch your linked bank accounts.
- They trigger autopay instructions for things like subscription payments or SIPs.
The problem? When you multiply this by millions of users and thousands of apps, the backend starts to choke. It happened four times between March and April 2025. The worst was on April 12—a five-hour outage.
The Fix: New UPI Usage Rules (Starting August 1)
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has decided it’s time to enforce limits on how often apps and banks can poke the UPI system.
Here’s a breakdown of the new rules:
1. Balance Enquiry Limit
- Each UPI app can request your bank balance only 50 times a day.
- That might sound like a lot, but many users hit this without realizing—especially when they keep checking after failed payments.
2. Linked Accounts List Cap
- Limit: 25 times per day per app.
- Apps like to show your account list when you’re setting up payments or changing banks. Now, they have to be smarter about how often they ask for it.
3. Autopay Mandates Timing
- Autopay debits will only be processed outside peak hours.
- Allowed time slots: before 10 AM, 1 PM to 5 PM, and after 9:30 PM.
- You can still set up mandates any time. But the system won’t pull money until those slots open up.
4. Transaction Status Checks
- UPI apps and partner banks can only check the status of a transaction three times, and there needs to be at least 90 seconds between checks.
- Total check window: 2 hours after the transaction is initiated.
5. Mandatory Balance Updates After Every Transaction
- Every successful transaction message must now include your updated account balance.
- This should reduce the number of people manually checking their balance right after a payment goes through.
6. Throttling During Peak Hours
- Between 10 AM to 1 PM and 5 PM to 9:30 PM, the system will limit background activity.
- This includes API calls that aren’t triggered directly by users.
Why This Is a Big Deal
These aren’t soft guidelines. They’re hard limits, and all banks and payment apps have to follow them. NPCI has told all participants to:
- Set up the new rules by July 31.
- Submit compliance proof by August 31.
If they don’t, they could lose access to the UPI system or face other penalties.
Why This Is Happening Now
The system started breaking. That’s the short version.
In April, banks were ignoring earlier NPCI guidelines that suggested limiting status checks. Some banks were hammering the transaction status API every 2–5 seconds. They were supposed to wait 90 seconds. They didn’t.
It caused the UPI system to overload.
Users saw payments stuck. Apps froze. Money was debited but confirmations didn’t come through. It happened too many times.
NPCI realized that soft rules weren’t enough. So they turned them into hard limits.
Will Users Notice Anything?
Most people won’t. But some might.
- Heavy balance checkers might run into the 50-a-day limit. If you hit that, the app will likely stop showing your balance.
- Autopay transactions might not go through at the usual time. They’ll shift to off-peak windows.
- If your app takes too long to confirm a payment, it may now stop retrying after three attempts in two hours.
For regular users, though, this should actually improve reliability. Less traffic means fewer crashes. Fewer stuck transactions.
And now, since the balance is included with every payment message, you probably won’t need to hit “Check Balance” anymore after every UPI payment.
What Happens If Apps Don’t Comply?
NPCI isn’t playing around. There are new mandatory audit rules, too. Every UPI participant (banks, third-party apps, PSPs) must undergo a CERT-In empanelled audit by August 31, 2025.
If they don’t comply:
- NPCI can limit their access to the UPI system.
- In extreme cases, apps could be blocked until they fix the issues.
This is the first time NPCI is forcing system-wide technical audits with hard enforcement dates.
What This Means for the Future of UPI
UPI is the dominant payment method in India. Over 83% of digital payments in the country happen through it. And it’s not slowing down.
But the scale also means small inefficiencies become huge problems.
This change marks a shift in how NPCI sees its role. They’re not just an operator anymore. They’re now acting as a performance watchdog—something many argued should’ve happened earlier.
If this enforcement works, it could lead to more guardrails:
- Caps on failed transaction retries
- Better fraud protection layers
- More visible error messages for users
FAQs
Q: Will I still be able to use UPI normally?
Yes. These changes are backend-focused. Your basic UPI experience—sending money, scanning QR codes, paying bills—won’t change.
Q: Why are autopay payments delayed?
They’re being restricted to non-peak hours to reduce strain. You can still set up subscriptions, but the actual debit may happen late at night or early morning.
Q: What happens if I try to check my balance 51 times?
Your app will likely block further checks or show an error. Most users won’t hit this unless they’re checking after every payment.
Q: Which apps will be affected?
All UPI apps: PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, BHIM, and bank apps too.
Q: Is this permanent?
Yes. These are structural changes. NPCI hasn’t announced any rollback.
Conclusion
UPI isn’t broken—but it’s been running hot. Too many apps using it like a free-for-all has caused unnecessary stress. The outages this year forced NPCI to act. And now, starting August 1, the rules are changing.
This isn’t about limiting users. It’s about making sure the system holds up under pressure. The new caps are focused on reducing pointless background chatter between banks and apps. Real payments? Still going through. Maybe even faster.
If everything goes right, you won’t notice a thing.
Author: James flick
