UPI to get faster from today; Daily caps on usage roll out from July 31

NPCI reduces UPI API turnaround times to 10 seconds; limits on balance checks, account listings, and autopay retries to be enforced across apps by end-July

India’s flagship digital payments system, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), is set to become faster and more efficient from today, June 16. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced key changes to UPI’s backend operations that will reduce API response times and introduce daily caps on certain functions starting July 31.

 

In a circular dated April 26, NPCI said the response time for crucial UPI APIs such as 'Check Transaction Status' and 'Transaction Reversal' has been slashed from 30 seconds to 10 seconds. The turnaround time for the 'Validate Address' API, which is critical for ‘Pay’ and ‘Collect’ operations, has also been reduced to 10 seconds from the earlier 15 seconds.

 

 

These upgrades are expected to enhance real-time responsiveness for users of platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and others, by enabling quicker transaction confirmation and faster resolution of failed payments.   

 

Enhanced backend performance for PSPs and banks

 

The reduced response windows apply to remitter banks, beneficiary banks, and major Payment Service Providers (PSPs), with the goal of streamlining high-volume transaction flows, especially during peak hours.

 

“The aforementioned revisions are intended to improve the customer experience,” NPCI said in the circular. It also directed banks and PSPs to carry out the necessary system upgrades and ensure coordination with merchants and partner networks to implement the changes.

 

New daily usage limits by July 31

 

Beginning July 31, NPCI will also enforce daily usage caps on certain UPI functions to optimise performance and reduce network congestion:

 

-Balance enquiry: Limited to 50 checks per user per day across all UPI apps  -List account: Users can fetch their linked account list up to 25 times per app per day  -Autopay mandate execution: Each mandate will receive one attempt and a maximum of three retries, all to be scheduled during non-peak UPI hours

 

Peak hours have been defined as 10 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 9:30 pm. NPCI clarified that retries must fall outside these windows to ensure network efficiency.   

 

Compliance deadline set for July 31

 

NPCI has set July 31, 2025, as the deadline for all stakeholders, including banks, PSPs, and partner platforms, to implement these changes.

 

“Members are requested to take note of this compliance requirement and communicate it to relevant stakeholders and their respective partners,” the circular added.

 

These measures are part of NPCI’s broader effort to improve reliability and speed across India’s rapidly growing UPI ecosystem, which now processes billions of transactions monthly and serves as a critical pillar of digital payments infrastructure.