&w=3840&q=100)
NPCI's new rules speed up UPI: How it impacts your daily transactions
UPI transactions should become faster starting this week after the organisation that manages the digital payments system asked member banks and payment service providers to reduce response time for key processes.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in a circular dated April 26, 2025, has revised the turnaround time for several APIs (application programming interfaces), the technology that facilitates UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions between banks and apps. Here are the key changes:
Request pay (debit and credit):
Transaction reversals:
Time allowed reduced to 10 seconds from the earlier 30 seconds
Validate address for pay/collect requests:
Must be processed within 8 seconds, earlier limit was 10 seconds
These changes apply across multiple stakeholders, including payer and payee Payment Service Providers, banks, and apps. ALSO READ | India's first credit card with UPI and Visa in one - and zero forex fees
How does it help UPI users
Faster API responses mean:
Quicker confirmations for your payments, especially during peak hours or high-traffic days
Reduced wait time for failed transaction reversals
Lower chances of payment timeouts or declines due to slow backend processes
'With 15-second UPI processing, payments will now be faster and more reliable, a win-win for India's 350 million users,' says Sarika Shetty, chief executive officer & co-founder, RentenPe. 'This will ease load during peak hours, improve gateway efficiency, and encourage more people to choose UPI over IMPS or NEFT, especially as UPI expands into rural areas and global markets.'
What banks and apps must do:
NPCI has asked all UPI participants to upgrade their systems to comply with the new response time. They must also ensure that these changes don't increase the number of technical declines (failures due to system issues).
With this move, NPCI is clearly signalling its focus on streamlining the digital payment experience, especially as UPI expands into offline, credit, and international use cases.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
35 minutes ago
- India.com
Why Are India's Billionaires Leaving The Country? A Look At The Hidden Exodus
New Delhi: The skyline of India's economic rise has a silhouette. Skyscrapers, unicorn startups and billion-dollar IPOs. But if you look closer, there is a silent migration unfolding behind the shine. India is now home to more millionaires than ever before, but thousands are quietly packing up and moving out. In 2025 alone, an estimated 3,500 Indian millionaires are expected to leave the country, according to the latest Henley Private Wealth Migration Report. In 2023, the figure was 5,100. In 2024, it dipped to 4,300. But India still tops the global list when it comes to the number of high-net-worth individuals relocating. Apart from being people, they are portable fortunes. About $26.2 billion worth of personal wealth is expected to be moved out of the country along with them. A New Home in the Sands Top destination? The United Arab Emirates (UAE). Nearly 9,800 millionaires from across the world are expected to move to the UAE this year alone. With zero income tax, luxurious lifestyle offerings and long-term visa perks, it has become the gold standard for wealth havens. The rich from India, the United Kingdom, Russia, Southeast Asia and Africa are all finding a new address in the Emirates. The United States, too, remains a popular magnet, expecting to draw 7,500 millionaires this year. Portugal, Singapore and Saudi Arabia are rising stars in this elite migration map. Why Are India's Rich Fleeing? The exodus of wealth is for merely for lifestyle upgrades. It is a complex blend of tax anxiety, regulatory heat and the lure of global mobility. Several factors are driving the trend: 1. The Tax Squeeze: India's tax net has tightened significantly. In just the first quarter of this year, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) collected Rs 20,000 crore (nearly double last year's figure) in arrears. That includes Rs 17,244 crore in corporate tax and Rs 2,714 crore in personal income tax. The target for the year? Rs 1.96 lakh crore. Back in 2019-20, the total outstanding demand was Rs 10 lakh crore. It now stands at Rs 42 lakh crore. 2. A Cleaner, Stricter Economy: India's informal economy is shrinking. Transactions once done in cash and outside scrutiny are now being dragged into the formal net. UPI has revolutionised payments. In 2024-25, UPI clocked 185.8 billion transactions worth Rs 261 lakh crore – up 41% from last year. 3. Crackdown on Crypto: Crypto once offered a shadow zone for wealth. That is changing fast. India now treats cryptocurrencies as Virtual Digital Assets under strict financial laws. They are taxed, tracked and monitored under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). For India's ultra-rich, this means fewer loopholes and more reasons to shift their portfolios abroad. 4. Lifestyle, Education, Healthcare and Passport Power: Wealthy families, apart from low taxes, want better life, world-class education, top-tier healthcare and visa-free travel. These are on every millionaire's checklist. Indian passports, though improving, still fall short of European or Caribbean ones. Many seek investment-based residency or citizenship programmes abroad. Programmes such as the UAE's Golden Visa, Portugal's residency-to-citizenship plan and the US EB-5 route offer appealing pathways. The Trump Card Adding intrigue to this year's millionaire migration story is the controversial Trump Card. Priced at $5 million, it promises U.S. permanent residency as a 'premium' alternative to the Green Card. Though not officially approved, over 70,000 people have signed up at Promoters claim it could inject $1 trillion into the U.S. economy if it takes off. The card features President Donald Trump's image and signature. It is backed by conservative businessman John Lottnick and aims to appeal to global investors looking for elite American access. Portugal's Golden Path Portugal remains a steady favourite. Its Golden Visa programme offers access to the Schengen zone and a path to citizenship in just five years. Though direct real estate investment is now off the table, new routes remain open. Indian millionaires with global plans find the programme flexible and appealing. The Bigger Picture Despite the outward flow, India's pool of millionaires is expanding. Between 2014 and 2024, their numbers grew by 72%, thanks to stock market gains, startup windfalls and generational wealth growth. But their outbound shift still signals a deeper concern. A survey by Kotak Private and EY found that 22% of ultra-rich Indians are actively planning to relocate. Their reasons span wealth preservation, family safety, education and long-term planning. Estate structuring is easier abroad. So is tax optimisation. UAE, Singapore and Portugal, they all have become quiet magnets. And India, while on the rise, continues to lose some of its richest minds and wallets to foreign shores.
Deccan Herald
6 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
Bengaluru: Small vendors fear big trouble over tax notice
Small vendors accepting UPI payments in Bengaluru are on tenterhooks, after a recent directive from the Commercial Taxes Department spooked them.
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
When Rs 12 beats Rs 175: Bengaluru founder snubs costly auto prices, uses cheaper option to protest ‘stupid fares'
Swapnil Jain , co-founder of Ather Energy , did not expect a normal Monday morning commute to kick up such noise. He had both his vehicles parked at the office, so when he needed to get back, he tried the usual option. 'For various reasons, both my vehicles were parked at the office and I had no ride. Tried booking an auto because it is only 4 kms, but the price was ₹175. Heck with it, just decided to take a bus to office at ₹12,' he posted on X. And that was that. Or so he thought. 'Protesting stupid auto prices' Calling it what it was, Jain wrote, 'This is me protesting against the stupid auto prices.' — swapniljain89 (@swapniljain89) Live Events The phrase struck a chord. In Bengaluru, short auto rides turning costly is nothing new. Jain's public refusal felt relatable for many. His ₹12 bus ticket said more than a rant ever could. UPI payment, no loose change There was more to this than the fare. Jain pointed out that BMTC's UPI option makes life easier. No awkward wait for coins. No hunting for change in the pocket. He also gave a nod to Switch Mobility's electric buses . Comfortable enough, he said. A slight lag in acceleration did not bother him much. He figured it was down to shifting passenger weight. Bengaluru joins in The post caught on. Others began to chip in with their own stories. One user wrote, 'BMTC has been my primary mode for the last 1 year. Other than the sudden acceleration or braking, no complaints. No issue with frequency (500D), and no last-mile connectivity issues either.' Someone else shared, 'Use the Namma BMTC app for live tracking. It's not perfect, but it works. Pair it with UPI and you're sorted.' Another liked Jain's small stand, saying, 'I like how you don't waste money on simple things. It's not just about saving ₹100- ₹150, it's about staying grounded in the roots we come from.' Of course, not everyone clapped along. One user poked fun at Jain's scooters. 'Same way we don't want to waste money on your scooters that stop when there's a pillion rider. You call that derating? Hilarious!' the user said. Someone found fault with the buses too. 'Why can't the floor be flat? Too many steps inside, feels like climbing into an auditorium,' read another reply. Others dropped tips. 'You can get daily passes through the Tummoc app too. Also, airport buses on the BMTC app are really accurate.' Under it all, this was not only about a short bus ride. Jain's post pulled out an old complaint Bengaluru commuters share quietly every day. Auto fares that feel random. The relief when the bus turns up on time. Small fixes like paying through an app. 'Needed a rick in the rain, guess who's charging Rs 175 for 3 km? Rapido!' another user added, showing this is not one man's story. Swapnil Jain's choice to spend twelve rupees instead of one seventy-five will not overhaul Bengaluru's transport overnight. But it has pushed a simple idea back into the open. Sometimes a bus ride is worth more than it costs. And a small protest can make people pause and think before hailing the next pricey rick.
