UPI Glitch Strikes Again: Thousands Face Payment Failures across India

On Saturday, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) reported a service outage that prevented thousands of users from completing fund transfers and payments.

As of midday, there were over 2,000 complaints about UPI services, with the most common issues being with payments and fund transfers, according to Downdetector.

This occurs only days after two significant failures in a week disrupted transactions and irritated consumers throughout the country in India's most popular digital payment system.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said that there was an "intermittent technical issue" on March 26 that prevented UPI users nationwide from completing transactions. The UPI network's operator, NPCI, recognized the problem and said that it has subsequently been fixed. About half of the hundreds of outage complaints that Downdetector displayed on April 2 had to do with cash transfers, while 44% had to do with unsuccessful payments.

Major payment services, including Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm, as well as some banking apps, have been impacted by the interruption. Reports against Google Pay and SBI are also displayed by Downdetector.

According to an April 7 ET story, UPI is still breaking monthly transaction records, but its formerly rapid growth is decreasing as its user base has grown. Many customers were left trapped at cash counters, unable to complete transactions due to the UPI services outage.

By the end of 2024, UPI was responsible for 83% of all payment volumes, up from 34% at the end of 2019, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The percentage of alternative payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, RTGS, NEFT, and IMPS, decreased from 66% to 17% within the same time period.