By The Sampadak Express
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services across India faced a significant technical disruption on Saturday morning, marking the third major outage in less than a month.
Users of popular digital payment platforms such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm reported widespread transaction failures, leading to inconvenience for individuals and businesses alike. According to outage-tracking platform DownDetector, over 2,100 complaints were logged by 12:56 PM, with nearly 80% of users facing payment issues. Earlier in the day, 1,168 reports had already been submitted, reflecting growing user frustration.
The disruption affected multiple financial institutions, including major banks like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
This latest outage comes just days after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced a new policy restricting the use of QR codes for international UPI transactions from April 8, aimed at enhancing payer identification. Domestic QR-based payments remain unaffected by the change.
Recurring UPI Outages Raise Concerns
This is the third time in 30 days that the UPI system has experienced a disruption. On March 26, users across the country encountered difficulties with digital payments due to a widespread outage. NPCI later confirmed “intermittent technical issues” and said the system had been stabilized. A similar disruption was also reported on April 2.
UPI’s Growing Role in India’s Digital Economy
Despite these outages, UPI continues to be a dominant force in India’s digital payment ecosystem. A recent report by fintech firm Phi Commerce revealed that UPI accounted for 65% of total transactions in 2024. While it remains the preferred mode for small and mid-value payments, credit cards and EMIs are increasingly used for high-value purchases, particularly in sectors like education, healthcare, and automotive services.
The report, based on data from over 20,000 merchants, also highlighted seasonal spikes in credit-driven transactions, driven by school admissions, festive shopping, and other high-spend events.
As digital payments become increasingly integral to daily life in India, consistent service availability and system reliability remain critical concerns for users and regulators alike.
