NPCI Launches UPI AutoPay Feature to Enable Auto-Debit of Recurring Payments

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced a new UPI AutoPay feature in India to ease recurring online payments. This feature allows customers to set an e-mandate for cyclical payments of up to Rs. 2,000 on the UPI platform. For recurring payments above Rs. 2,000, customers will have to execute every mandate with the UPI PIN. This UPI AutoPay feature can be used for recurring expenses like mobile bills, mutual funds and loan payments, paying for transit/metro payments, EMI payments, insurance, electricity bills, entertainment/ OTT subscriptions, and many other online transactions.

The UPI AutoPay feature will auto debit accounts for regular payments that have been pre-selected by customers. Eligible UPI-enabled apps will now have a ‘Mandate' section, through which customers can create, approve, modify, pause as well as revoke auto debit mandate. NPCI notes that mandates can be set for one-time, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly as well. Users will have to set an authorised date for auto debit in the ‘Mandate' section and the money will then be deducted automatically. NPCI notes UPI users can create e-mandate through UPI ID, QR scan or Intent.

As mentioned, for amounts lesser than Rs. 2,000, customers have to authenticate their account through UPI PIN for one-time and subsequent monthly payments would be debited automatically. For amount greater than Rs. 2,000, a UPI PIN authentication will be required for every mandate.

NPCI has introduced UPI AutoPay for banks like Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, HSBC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Paytm Payments Bank, AutoPe-Delhi Metro, AutoPe-Dish TV, CAMS Pay, Furlenco, Growfitter, Policy Bazaar, Testbook.com, The Hindu, Times Prime, Paytm, PayU, RazorPay, among others. YES Bank, State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank will introduce UPI AutoPay soon. This feature essentially looks to ease the burden of remembering to pay regular bills every month from a UPI customer.

UPI has become a popular choice for digital transactions in India. The India Digital Payments Report 2019 revealed that UPI facilitated transactions worth Rs. 18,36,000 crores last year, up 214 percent from 2018. "UPI is perhaps the fastest product to hit 1 billion transactions-a-month in 2019 since its inception in August 2016," the report said.

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