Were you unable to make UPI payments yesterday? Here's why

Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services were disrupted on Wednesday evening, preventing hundreds of customers from conducting financial transactions using a number of mobile applications.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages UPI operations, admitted to the issue and assured users that it had been resolved.

Though the outage was short, it annoyed users who depend on digital payments for regular transactions.

The UPI outage

Users were unable to complete digital transactions on Wednesday due to a major technical glitch that interrupted Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services across India.

Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm were among the well-known UPI apps that were impacted.

Over 72 per cent of Google Pay users experienced problems with payments, followed by website access (14 per cent), and app-related issues (14 per cent).

There were also issues with Paytm; 86 per cent of the complaints were about payments, and nine per cent and six per cent, respectively, were about login and purchasing features. Eighty-four per cent of the complaints about UPI were related to unsuccessful payments, as per Moneycontrol.

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According to Downdetector graphs, the problems seem to have begun in the late afternoon, as complaints began to spike at around 7 PM.

The platform, which monitors service outages, received an influx of user complaints regarding unsuccessful transactions and connectivity problems.

According to the platform, more than 3,000 users complained about the UPI downtime.

Users’ frustration

Though it was temporary, the outage caused frustration among users, who shared their experience on social media.

A netizen wrote, “For the first time in my life I’ve experienced UPI downtime. Not Banks, or gateways, but @UPI_NPCI itself btw, uptime was 100% in feb,“ while another one added, “UPI hi down ho gaya, 2 dost pani puri kha ke dukan pr khade hai 30 min se."

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1

ATM withdrawals to cost more, changes to UPI rules. Here's what to know

For the first time in my life I've experienced UPI downtime.

Not Banks, or gateways, but @UPI_NPCI itself

btw, uptime was 100% in feb 🫡 pic.twitter.com/UkNpxC2KSg

— Anas Khan (@AnxKhn) March 26, 2025

A third user quipped, “None of the UPI apps are working. UPI system is down i think."

@UPI_NPCI UPI down ho gya hai sir, shop wale ne payment ke liye rok rakha hai🥲

Cash ki ab yaad aa rhi hai 🥴#phonepe #gpay #paytm #upidown

— Hrideshwar (@Rahulboy2) March 26, 2025

UPI is down for the first time & it is already showing an impact.

Most of us already stopped carrying liquid cash & this downtime has created a do or die situation 😂

Elders were right about carrying cash ✅️ pic.twitter.com/7QBSnfwNXr

— Yaswanth Sai Palaghat (@yaswanthtweet) March 26, 2025

Responding to the user, UPI reacted from its official X handle, “Hi, thank you for reaching out to us. We humbly request you to get in touch with your respective bank for better assistance in this regard."

Services restored

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) subsequently confirmed that it had experienced intermittent technical issues which have now been fixed.

“NPCI had faced intermittent technical issues owing to which UPI had partial decline. The same has been addressed now and the system has stabilised. Regret the inconvenience," NPCI said.

NPCI had faced intermittent technical issues owing to which UPI had partial decline. The same has been addressed now and the system has stabilised. Regret the inconvenience.

— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) March 26, 2025

UPI and its popularity

UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is a payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

With their phone numbers or distinct UPI IDs, individuals can send and receive money instantly.

In contrast to other payment options such as Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), UPI enables users and merchants to request payments by only sending a message via their banking app.

The Finance Ministry reported on Thursday that January’s UPI transactions reached a record-breaking 16.99 billion, with a total value of almost Rs 23.48 lakh crore.

According to the finance ministry, the digital payments landscape has shown impressive growth for 2023–2024, as reported by PTI.

As per the report, the Unified Payments Interface continues to be the backbone of India’s digital payment ecosystem, accounting for 80 per cent of all retail payments made there.

During FY 24–25 (till January 2025), P2M transactions accounted for 62.35 percent of the total UPI volume, while P2P transactions contributed 37.65 percent, according to the report.

On the other hand, the ministry said in a statement that UPI transactions reached a record 16.73 billion in December, representing an increase of eight per cent over the previous month.

UPI’s success is largely due to the fact that it is completely free. Users won’t be charged extra by NPCI for transferring any amount of money at any time. Furthermore, because there is no minimum transaction restriction, it is widely utilised for small payments at local stores.

Plus, UPI has a useful AutoPay function that enables users to schedule automatic payments for subscriptions and invoices, streamlining and simplifying transactions.

The RBI has put strict security procedures and regulations in place to protect UPI payments, guaranteeing the security of your money and personal information.

To protect sensitive data, such as user identities and transaction details, during transmission, UPI uses cutting-edge encryption technologies like TLS, AES, and PKI.

Furthermore, UPI lowers the danger of data exposure and unauthorised access by using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) in place of exchanging bank account information.

With inputs from agencies