UPI Transactions to speed up from June 16; Key changes in balance checks, autopay

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions are set to become significantly faster starting June 16, with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) implementing reduced response times to enhance overall system performance. According to a circular dated April 26, 2025, NPCI has shortened the response time for various UPI APIs. For instance, 'Request Pay' and 'Response Pay' transactions (both debit and credit) will now have a 15-second response time, down from 30 seconds. Similarly, 'Check Transaction Status' and 'Transaction Reversal' will now respond in 10 seconds, a considerable reduction from the previous 30 seconds. The 'Validate Address' API will also see its response time cut from 15 to 10 seconds. These adjustments are designed to improve customer experience and benefit remitter banks, beneficiary banks, and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) such as PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.

Beyond the immediate speed enhancements, the UPI system is poised for other important changes slated for implementation from August, as outlined in a circular dated May 21, 2025. These guidelines aim to moderate API requests to the UPI network, thereby ensuring system stability and preventing overloads. Key changes include imposing daily limits on certain actions: users will be allowed a maximum of 50 attempts per day to check their account balance through a UPI app, and a limit of 25 attempts per app per day for listing accounts linked to their mobile number by a particular account provider.

Furthermore, rules for Autopay mandate execution will be refined. A maximum of one attempt and three retries per mandate (per sequence number) will be permitted, with initiation specifically during non-peak hours to manage network load. Peak hours are generally identified as 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM. PSP banks and acquiring banks are mandated to monitor and moderate all API requests to UPI to ensure appropriate usage. Members of the UPI ecosystem are required to implement these compliance changes by July 31, 2025, to ensure a smoother, more efficient, and robust digital payment experience for millions of users.