Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, May 4: Starting June 16, UPI payments are set to get significantly faster, with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announcing sweeping changes to improve transaction response times. The aim is to enhance user experience by making payments smoother, quicker, and more reliable.
In its latest circular, NPCI stated that from mid-June, users will benefit from drastically reduced wait times when checking transaction statuses or reversing payments. Specifically, the time taken to verify the status of a UPI transaction will be slashed from the current 30 seconds to just 10 seconds.
Similarly, for reversing a UPI payment, users will now get a response within 10 seconds, compared to the earlier 30-second window. The response time for sending or receiving money—under request pay and response pay—will be halved from 30 seconds to 15 seconds.
Furthermore, address validation will be completed in only 10 seconds, improved from the previous 15-second timeframe. These upgrades mean that whether users are transferring funds, checking status, or initiating reversals, the system will now react significantly faster.
UPI has emerged as one of India’s most widely used digital payment platforms. To ensure a seamless rollout of the improved timelines, NPCI has directed banks and payment service providers (PSPs) to upgrade their infrastructure accordingly. The revised system should comply with the new timings without compromising transaction success rates.
NPCI highlighted in its circular, “Aforementioned revisions are intended to improve the customer experience. The members are required to ensure that they make the necessary changes in their system so that that responses are handled within the revised time.”
It added, “Further, members are requested to ensure that the changes to the response time should not adversely impact the technical decline (TD) thresholds.”
This overhaul comes in the wake of a technical snag earlier this month. On April 12, several UPI users experienced difficulties with transactions due to a system glitch.
Acknowledging the issue, NPCI had posted on X, “NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines. We are working to resolve the issue, and will keep you updated. We regret the inconvenience caused.”
With the introduction of these faster response times, UPI users can expect a more responsive and efficient payment experience. The upgrades underscore ongoing efforts to fine-tune India’s digital payment ecosystem, keeping pace with growing demand and user expectations.