NPCI Instructs Deactivation Of Specific UPI IDs By 31 Dec Due To Banking Frauds
An important deadline looms for UPI users, as the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has issued a circular instructing payment apps and banks to deactivate UPI IDs and numbers inactive for over a year. This directive, dated 7 November 2023, is aimed at preventing inadvertent money transfers when customers change their mobile numbers without dissociating the old numbers from the banking system.
Major UPI payment apps, including Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe, have been affected by these instructions. As the three largest UPI payment apps in the country, their compliance is crucial to the implementation of these measures.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) allows telecom companies to issue deactivated mobile numbers to new subscribers after a 90-day period. This situation raises the risk of unintentional transfers, especially if users fail to associate their new mobile numbers with the altered phone numbers in the banking system.
The guidelines outlined in the NPCI circular require Third Party App Providers (TPAP) and Payment Service Providers (PSP) to take action before the specified deadline of 31 December 2023. The circular emphasises the significance of UPI users regularly reviewing and verifying their information within the banking system to ensure compliance and avoid potential issues arising from the deactivation of UPI IDs and numbers.
Therefore, UPI users, regardless of the app they use—whether it be Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm or any other—are advised to confirm that their UPI IDs have not been left unused for extended periods to align with the upcoming regulations and prevent any disruption in their UPI services.
