The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that several changes to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system will be implemented starting August 1, 2025. The updates introduce revised guidelines for the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) by all banks and digital payment platforms, covering features like AutoPay and balance inquiries. These modifications are intended to enhance the stability and efficiency of UPI services, especially during high-traffic periods.

While your everyday transactions—like paying at a neighborhood shop—might remain unchanged, the new guidelines do introduce restrictions on certain functions such as balance inquiries, transaction status updates, and more.

According to NPCI, the primary objective is to improve the overall reliability of the UPI network and reduce service interruptions during busy hours. Here’s a complete overview of what’s set to change in the upcoming UPI update.

Daily Cap on Balance Inquiries:

Users will now be limited to a maximum of 50 account balance checks per day on each UPI app. This move is aimed at cutting down on excessive API requests that can strain the system.

Restricted Access to Linked Bank Account Info:

You will be able to retrieve information about bank accounts linked to your mobile number only 25 times a day, helping optimize server usage.

Fixed Time Windows for Auto-Debits:

Recurring payments like subscriptions (e.g., Netflix, mutual fund SIPs) will now be processed only during low-traffic hours—before 10 AM, between 1 PM and 5 PM, or after 9:30 PM.

Limit on Payment Status Refresh Attempts:

If a transaction is pending, you can now check its status only three times, with a mandatory 90-second gap between each attempt.

These measures are designed to ease traffic on UPI infrastructure and reduce the risk of slowdowns or service disruptions, especially during busy usage periods.

Why These Reforms Were Introduced

With nearly 16 billion UPI transactions occurring monthly, the system has been facing increasing pressure. In April and May, a wave of service disruptions impacted a large number of users across the country.

According to the NPCI, a significant portion of these issues stem from overwhelming traffic caused by repeated API requests—such as frequent balance checks or multiple status refreshes on the same transaction. These repetitive actions put unnecessary load on the UPI infrastructure, prompting the need for stricter controls.