Big change in UPI from today: ID of those using Paytm, PhonePe may be closed, do this work soon

Unified Payment Interface or UPI, used to transfer money in seconds using mobile devices, is growing rapidly in the country. Since its launch, the number of digital transactions in India has increased rapidly and is increasing. People ranging from a young age to rickshaw pullers have now stopped carrying cash in their pockets. Everyone is now dependent on digital payments. For transactions, they are resorting to Phone Pay, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM or online banking. Now, to promote the UPI payment sector, the Reserve Bank of India i.e. RBI has made changes in some rules and has also brought some new rules, which will be effective from today i.e. January 1, 2024.

National Payments Corporation of India i.e. NPCI has asked all transaction apps and banks including Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe to deactivate those UPI IDs and numbers which have not been active for more than a year. According to NPCI, the virtual transaction limit for UPI transactions will now be a maximum of Rs 1 lakh. Although the Reserve Bank of India increased the transaction limit for UPI payments to ₹ 5 lakh for hospitals and educational institutions on December 8, 2023, NPCI has explained it in its way.

In addition to this change, certain merchant UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 made using prepaid payment instruments like online wallets will also attract a 1.1 per cent interchange charge. According to a report, there will be a time limit of four hours for the first payment of more than Rs 2,000 for those who have not done the transaction before to reduce the rising cases of online payment fraud. At the same time, soon UPI users will be able to activate the 'Tap and Pay' facility. Although it is not official yet.

It is noteworthy that RBI is going to launch UPI ATM across the country. From these ATMs, you can withdraw cash directly from your bank account by scanning the QR code. Let us tell you that the value of UPI transactions reached Rs 17.4 trillion in November 2023, which is 1.4 per cent more than Rs 17.16 trillion in October 2023. Also, the number of transactions declined by 1.5 per cent to 11.24 billion.