2 days ago
NPCI Plans Wider Cross-App UPI AutoPay Mandate Portability
NPCI is planning to let people move their automatic UPI payments between different apps.
These payments can cover subscriptions, insurance, loan repayments and investment plans.
People would not need to cancel and set up the same payment again when changing apps.
The payment would still come from the bank account the person originally approved.
Merchants could also move existing customer payment instructions to a new payment gateway.
This could make it easier to see upcoming payments and forgotten subscriptions.
Smaller UPI apps support the plan because they say automatic payments can make customers stay with larger apps.
Making the system work will require changes across consumer-facing UPI apps.
NPCI is expected to announce the features at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai next month.
NPCI plans to make UPI AutoPay mandates portable across UPI apps.
Users could transfer eligible mandates without cancelling and recreating recurring payments.
Merchants could move existing mandates between payment gateways or acquiring banks.
The changes are expected to be announced at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai next month.
NPCI data showed nearly 1.8 billion UPI e-mandate transactions processed by the top 10 banks in July.
- Who
- The National Payments Corporation of India, UPI apps, merchants and payment gateways are involved.
- What
- NPCI plans to enable eligible UPI AutoPay mandates to be accessed and moved across UPI apps and payment providers.
- Where
- The expected announcement will take place at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.
- When
- The features are expected to be announced next month; NPCI data cited in the article covers July.
- Why
- The move is intended to reduce consumer and merchant lock-in and create a more interoperable recurring-payments network.
Interoperability Supporters
Implementation Concerns
Consumer and merchant choice
Interoperability Supporters
Smaller UPI apps and merchants support portability because it could reduce dependence on larger apps and legacy payment gateways.
Implementation Concerns
Existing mandates cannot be ported until consumer-facing apps and other ecosystem participants complete the required technical changes.
Effect on app competition
Interoperability Supporters
Cross-app access could give apps such as Navi, POP UPI and super.money a better chance of attracting users whose recurring payments are managed elsewhere.
Implementation Concerns
Larger UPI apps may lose some retention advantage because customers would no longer need to stay with an app to manage recurring mandates.
System design
Interoperability Supporters
Supporters describe the goal as moving from a closed-loop model to a many-to-many network that is not tied to a consumer app.
Implementation Concerns
A payment gateway executive described the change as a heavy lift for third-party application providers and consumer apps.
Key facts
- UPI AutoPay launch
- NPCI launched UPI AutoPay in 2020.
- Consumer benefit
- Users could port eligible mandates between UPI apps without cancelling and recreating them.
- Merchant benefit
- Merchants could move existing mandates to a different acquiring bank or payment gateway.
- Debit account
- Mandates will continue debiting the bank account originally authorised by the user.
- Transaction volume
- The top 10 banks processed nearly 1.8 billion UPI e-mandate transactions in July, according to NPCI data.
- Earlier comparison
- The article says the top 10 banks processed 585 million UPI e-mandate transactions in July 2025.
- Expected announcement
- The interoperability features are expected to be announced at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai next month.
Quotes
Senior executive of a large payment gateway provider
Senior executive at a large payment gateway provider who spoke anonymously
“If I were Netflix and initially went live with another payment gateway, such as PayU, I may later want to move both new and existing mandates to Cashfree. Under interoperability, Cashfree would then be able to execute debits on those existing mandates going forward.”
livemint.com
“The objective is to move away from a closed-loop system and create a many-to-many network that is agnostic to the consumer app being used. Users should be able to set up UPI AutoPay services regardless of where the biller is onboarded.”
livemint.com
Sources
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