What’s Changing in UPI from August 1, 2025?

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced major updates for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, which will go live starting August 1, 2025. These performance-based guidelines are designed to improve system stability, reduce downtime, and enhance user control.

Let’s break down what these changes mean for banks, UPI apps, and everyday users.

1. Balance Enquiry Requests Now Limited

• New cap: Users can now make only 50 balance enquiries per app per day (in a rolling 24-hour period).
• Manual only: All balance requests must be user-initiated—apps can’t auto-prompt users for it.
• During peak hours: Apps must be able to reduce or pause these requests to reduce server load.

Bonus for users: Successful UPI transactions will now display available account balances, reducing the need for separate balance checks.

2. Bank Account Access via API Restricted

• The “list account” API, which lets apps show bank accounts linked to a phone number, is now limited to 25 requests per day per app per user.
• Customer consent is mandatory for retries.
• Apps must let users pick their bank first before triggering the API.

3. UPI Autopay Blocked During Peak Load Hours

To reduce congestion and improve efficiency, UPI Autopay mandates will not execute during peak times:

• Peak hours blocked: 10:00 AM–1:00 PM and 5:00 PM–9:30 PM
• Each mandate will be allowed only one attempt and up to 3 retries.

4. Why the Rules Matter: Industry Perspective

Tarun Nazare, MD at Neokred, welcomed the move:

“These are forward-thinking reforms that focus on user security and system efficiency. They’ll help reduce overloads and potential outages.”

Experts have praised the shift towards improved consent mechanisms and reduced unnecessary API calls.

5. Compliance Deadline & Penalties

• All UPI participants (banks, apps, PSPs) must implement changes by July 31, 2025.
• Non-compliance may lead to:
  • API access restrictions
  • Penalties
  • Onboarding suspension for new users

NPCI has urged all stakeholders to update their systems and notify partners well in advance.

Final Thoughts

These changes represent a major shift in how India’s digital payments ecosystem functions. From user transparency to technical stability, the UPI reforms are expected to bring long-term benefits to both users and providers.

Stay tuned to your bank or app updates to ensure you’re aligned with the UPI changes effective from August 1, 2025.