Digital payments via UPI back to life after technical glitch

IANS April 12, 2025 221 views

A widespread technical disruption temporarily halted UPI digital payments across India, impacting millions of users and major banking platforms. The National Payments Corporation of India acknowledged the intermittent issues and worked to restore services quickly. Despite the temporary setback, UPI transactions continue to show remarkable growth, reaching 18.3 billion transactions in March. The incident highlights both the critical role of digital payments and the potential vulnerabilities in India's financial technology infrastructure.

"UPI is down again. Good that I always carry cash. Cash is always King" - Anonymous User
New Delhi, April 12: Digital payments via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) returned for most users on Saturday after the popular service suffered a nationwide outage affecting millions of users.

Key Points

1

National Payments Corporation of India confirms intermittent technical issues

2

2,358 user complaints reported by tracking platform

3

UPI transactions hit record 18.3 billion in March

Although the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was yet to confirm the restoration of UPI services, users in Delhi-NCR reported successful digital payments via smartphone apps.

Earlier in the day, digital services on several online payment platforms were disrupted across the country, hindering local shopping, bill payments and business transactions.

According to the outage tracking platform Down Detector, there were 2,358 complaints by 1 pm. Most reported problems were for payments (81 per cent) and fund transfers (17 per cent).

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the UPI services, posted on X social media platform that the disruptions were due to technical issues.

"NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines," the NPCI, shared in a post on social media platform X.

"We are working to resolve the issue and will keep you updated. We regret the inconvenience caused," it added.

Major banking apps from SBI, ICICI, and HDFC were also affected, pointing to a broader issue within the UPI network infrastructure.

"UPI is down again. Good that I always carry cash. Cash is always King," posted one affected user on X.

"This is becoming way too frequent nowadays. First UPI goes down, then banks declare their own 'downtime' for UPI transactions," another user wrote.

The UPI saw a 13.59 per cent increase (on-month) in transaction volume at 18.3 billion in the month of March, from 16.11 billion in February, as per the latest NPCI data.

The month of March saw a record Rs 24.77 lakh crore worth UPI-based transactions, up 12.79 per cent from Rs 21.96 lakh crore in February.

On a daily basis, the UPI network recorded more than 590 million average transactions at Rs 79,910 crore daily transaction count, according to the NPCI data.

On a year-on-year basis, the record-breaking UPI transactions of Rs 24.77 lakh crore in March marked a 25 per cent surge in value and an impressive 36 per cent growth in volume, demonstrating the unstoppable momentum of India's digital payments revolution.

Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
Glad to see UPI is back! Was stuck at a grocery store earlier when it wasn't working. Had to borrow cash from a friend 😅 Hope they fix these issues permanently.
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Priya M.
While I appreciate UPI's convenience, these frequent outages are concerning. NPCI should invest more in infrastructure if we're moving towards a cashless economy. Reliability is key!
A
Amit S.
This is why I never delete my Paytm wallet! Always good to have backup payment options. UPI is great but not perfect yet.
S
Sneha R.
The outage lasted only a few hours but shows how dependent we've become on digital payments. Maybe we should all keep some emergency cash at home 💸
V
Vikram J.
Kudos to the tech team for fixing it relatively quickly. With 590 million daily transactions, maintaining this system must be incredibly complex!
N
Neha P.
Was in the middle of splitting dinner bill with friends when UPI failed. Awkward moment! 😂 Thankfully it's working now and I could pay my share.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

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Tags:
UPI Payments Digital Banking NPCI Technical Glitch Indian Fintech SBI ICICI HDFC
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