UPI Just Got an Update: Here's What Changed on August 1st, 2025

Published: August 01, 2025

UPI

Gautam mer

5 min read

Introduction

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a marvel of financial technology, processing billions of transactions every month. This incredible volume puts immense pressure on the backend servers of banks and the NPCI. To ensure the system remains fast, stable, and reliable for every user, the NPCI has implemented four technical but crucial changes effective August 1st, 2025. These new rules are designed to optimize traffic and reduce unnecessary load on the system. Here’s what you need to know about these performance-focused updates.

Capping Daily Balance Checks

A common habit for many users is to check their bank balance frequently, often before and after every single transaction. While seemingly harmless, these millions of "balance check" requests create significant server traffic. To manage this, the NPCI has introduced a new limit:

"You can now check your bank balance a maximum of 50 times per day, per UPI app."

To make this less of an inconvenience, banks are now also required to include your updated available balance in the confirmation SMS you receive after every successful transaction. This change encourages users to rely on transaction alerts rather than repeatedly pinging the server.

Limiting Linked Account Enquiries

For users who have multiple bank accounts linked to a single UPI app, there's a new, stricter limit on a specific type of query. This refers to the "List Account" API, which fetches the list of all bank accounts associated with your mobile number.

"Users can now perform this "linked bank account" check a maximum of 25 times per day, per app."

This rule targets the reduction of redundant API calls that occur when users repeatedly refresh the list of their connected accounts, further preserving server resources for core transaction processing.

Smart Scheduling for Autopay Mandates

UPI Autopay is incredibly convenient for handling recurring payments like subscriptions, EMIs, and bills. However, these automated payments often trigger simultaneously, causing massive load spikes during peak business hours. To fix this, Autopay transactions will now be executed in a more controlled manner.

"Autopay mandates will now be processed only during designated non-peak hours" 
 (e.g., before 10 AM, between 1 PM - 5 PM, and after 9:30 PM).

This smart scheduling spreads the load of automated debits, ensuring that the system remains fluid and responsive for user-initiated payments throughout the day.

Throttling Transaction Status Checks

We've all been there: a transaction is "pending," and we anxiously hit the "refresh status" button over and over. This behaviour, when multiplied by millions of users, can flood the system with status requests. The new rule addresses this directly:

"Users are now limited to checking the status of a single transaction only three times."

"There is a mandatory waiting period of 90 seconds between each status check attempt."

This "cool-down" period prevents users from overwhelming the network with repetitive queries for a transaction that is already being processed, allowing the system to resolve the status and send an automated update more efficiently.

Conclusion

While they may seem like minor restrictions, these four changes are vital for the long-term health and stability of the UPI network. By capping high-frequency, low-value requests and intelligently scheduling automated tasks, the NPCI is ensuring that the UPI platform can continue to scale and provide a seamless, high-speed payment experience for all of India. These are the necessary tweaks under the hood to keep the engine of digital India running smoothly.