Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions volume rose to all time high of 19.47 billion in July, up 35 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y), according to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data. Overall UPI transaction value rose 22 per cent y-o-y to Rs 25.08 lakh crore in July.
On an average, 628 million UPI transactions were conducted daily in July. In June, a total of 18.40 billion transactions amounting to ₹24.04 lakh crore were conducted using UPI.
According to Dilip Modi, Founder & CEO of Spice Money, the surge in UPI transaction volumes reflect small business owners, local retailers, and last-mile customers adopting digital payments and reducing their dependence on cash.
“From nano-entrepreneurs to daily wage earners, more and more individuals are choosing UPI as their primary mode of transaction, replacing the need for cash with speed, safety, and confidence. With increasing digital literacy and rising trust in India’s digital infrastructure, services like UPI are no longer just enablers; they have become lifelines for small businesses, gig workers, and underserved communities across the country,” he said.
Changes in UPI ecosystem
The massive surge in UPI transactions has also caused spikes in banks and payments apps IT system load, mandate failures, and delayed responses—especially during peak hours.
To address these concerns, the NPCI has introduced certain new guidelines which will change the way people currently use UPI. Effective August 1, the NPCI said UPI users can check their account balance through UPI only 50 times per app per day. UPI apps shall have the capability to limit or stop balance check enquiry requests, if needed, to reduce the load in peak hours. UPI apps shall add the feature to show available balance after successful transaction.
Further, the feature that bank and payments apps have feature which displays all linked bank accounts–via the “List Account” API–is now capped at 25 requests per user, per app, per day, to reduce unnecessary API load on banking infrastructure.
Importantly, recurring payment mandates for loans, mobile or cable recharge, or other purpose, will now execute only during designated non-peak time slots, and each mandate will be limited to a maximum of four total attempts.
Published on August 1, 2025