Big UPI Changes Coming from August 1: NPCI Puts Daily Limits on Balance Checks, Autopay, and More

The National Payments Corporation of India or NPCI, the governing body behind the UPI, has rolled out fresh guidelines to improve the efficiency of the UPI system. As per the new circular, NPCI has asked all banks and payment service providers (PSPs) to limit the use of their top 10 most-used APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) on the UPI network by July 31, 2025.

These new UPI rules will come into effect from August 1, 2025, and will impact everyday actions like checking account balance, using UPI autopay, and tracking transaction status.

Why Is NPCI Making These Changes?

In recent months, many users have faced UPI outages, especially during peak hours. NPCI has found that repeated system-generated requests like balance enquiries or autopay cheques are putting an unnecessary load on the UPI network, sometimes causing it to slow down or even crash.

So, to prevent this, NPCI wants to limit the traffic by capping the number of times certain APIs can be used per user or app.

Major Changes in UPI Rules from August 2025

1. Limit on Balance Enquiry: Users can now check their account balance only 50 times per app per day. Apps must also be able to pause balance enquiries during busy times.

2. Autopay Mandate Rules: UPI autopay transactions must now be started during non-peak hours. Each autopay will get 1 attempt and up to 3 retries.

3. Instant Balance Notification: After every successful UPI transaction, your bank must show your updated account balance.

4. Peak Hour Restrictions: APIs that are not triggered by users will be restricted during peak hours, which fall around 10 AM to 1 PM and 5 PM to 9:30 PM.

What Happens If Banks or Apps Don't Follow the Rules?

NPCI in its circular has clearly mentioned that failure to follow these guidelines may lead to API access restrictions, penalties, and suspension of new customer onboarding.

Additionally, the corporation has asked all PSPs to submit a written confirmation to NPCI by August 31st this year stating they are following these rules and have proper checks in place to rate-limit their APIs.