UPI Rule Change Alert 2024: Key Rule Changes Related To UPI Transactions Users Must Know

Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the NPCI developed instant real-time payment system has played an important role in driving the digital payments revolution in India. As we have just entered the new year 2024, it is important to note that certain UPI rules have undergone changes. The new rules include a hike in UPI transaction limit for hospitals and educational institutions, the introduction of UPI for the Secondary Market, extension of UPI services to feature phones, among others.

1. UPI transaction limit for hospitals, and educational institutions payments increased to Rs 5 lakh:

The daily payment limit for UPI transactions shall now be Rs 1 lakh maximum, as per NPCI. However, UPI transaction limit for High-value payments for critical sectors including hospitals and education has been raised to Rs 5 lakh.

2. UPI ATMs

In an attempt to make it convenient for users to withdraw cash, NPCI in collaboration with Hitachi Payment Services has started rolling out UPI ATMs, which allow users to withdraw cash using UPI apps, without having to carry a debit card. The first ATM has already been launched and more ATMs will be rolled out across the country.

3. Four-hour cooling period to prevent financial fraud

In a bid to save users from financial fraud, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed a four-hour cooling window for users making a first payment of Rs 2,000 or more to a new recipient. This facility will allow users to reverse or modify transactions within this designated timeframe.

4. UPI for the secondary market

The NPCI has introduced 'UPI for Secondary Market,' currently in its Beta phase, allowing limited pilot customers to block funds post-trade confirmation and settle payments on a T1 basis through Clearing Corporations.

NPCI's UPI for the secondary market project has entered the beta phase, allowing selected users to block funds post-trade confirmation in the secondary market. This enabled the settling of funds on a T 1 basis via clearing corporations.

5. Deactivate inactive UPI IDs

As per the NPCI guidelines, payment apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, PayTM and more have been asked to verify and maintain active UPI IDs. UPI IDs that haven't been used for a year will be deactivated.
Thus, if you have a UPI ID that hasn't been used in a long time, it is important to make at least one payment soon in order to avoid the deactivation of that ID.

Meanwhile, another groundbreaking development is the extension of UPI services to feature phones to ensure financial inclusion. This will enable, a small vendor even in a rural area to accept digital payments without needing a smartphone.