New Delhi: UPI users may be in for a rude shock since banks and third-party apps may deactivate inactive IDs, preventing them from receiving funds starting January, according to an NPCI circular.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), in its circular asked banks and third-party app providers (TPAPs) such as Google Pay and PhonePe, among others, to shed the load of UPI IDs and mobile phone numbers that have not seen transactions since one year or more.
TPAPs and payments service provider (PSP) banks have been asked to disable inward credit into such inactive UPI IDs and numbers. This means that inactive account holders will not be able to receive money in these accounts. The deadline for the deactivation of inactive IDs and phone numbers on December 31.
Why does NPCI want to deactivate UPI IDs?
The directive for the deactivation of UPI IDs is guided by the fact that user often forgets to deactivate older IDs or delink older numbers when they switch their numbers. To be sure, banks will reach out to customers informing them that their ID will be deactivated, the Financial Express reported, citing a bank official.
The IDs and numbers will be deleted if the customer does not respond to the communication, said the official. The move is likely to hit prepaid phone users who are more prone to change numbers, as opposed to postpaid phone users, according to experts.
What is UPI?
UPI is a payment mode that allows peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant payments between bank accounts. This may be done using the phone number linked to a bank or by scanning a QR code. UPI also allows pinless payments via UPI Lite for small-ticket transactions in low-internet areas. Users may make payments up to Rs 4,000 in a day capped at Rs 500 per transaction using UPI Lite.
Which countries outside India accept UPI?
UPI is accepted in multiple countries outside India, such as:
- Bhutan
- Oman
- UAE
- Malaysia
- Thailand
- The Philippines
- Vietnam
- Singapore
- Cambodia
- South Korea
- Japan
- Taiwan
- Hong Kong
- UK
- Nepal
