UPI Payments / NPCI took this big step - you will not be able to make UPI payments from February 1!

UPI payments have expanded in India in the last few years, but from February 1, 2025, special characters will not be used in UPI transaction IDs. NPCI has directed all UPI apps to use only alphanumeric characters to make payments secure and easy to track.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jan 30, 2025, 06:00 AM
UPI Payments: The UPI (Unified Payment Interface) payment system has expanded in India over the past few years and has become an important part of the country's digital economy. Now an important change is going to happen which will be effective from February 1, 2025. Under this change, special characters (such as @, #, $, etc.) will not be able to be used in UPI payment transactions. If an app uses these special characters, the transaction will be canceled. Let's take a look at the whole story behind this change.

Why will this change happen?

Many UPI apps in India use special characters for transaction IDs, which can complicate transactions. The National Payments Corporation (NPCI) has directed to use only alphanumeric characters (letters and digits) in these transaction IDs. The move is aimed at improving security and making the system more effective.

NPCI's order and its impact

NPCI issued a circular on January 9, 2025, making it clear that after February 1, 2025, all UPI apps will have to use only alphanumeric characters in the transaction ID. After this, if an app does not follow this rule, its transaction will be rejected. This will affect not only business users but also common users. If you make a UPI transaction with an app that does not follow this rule, your payment may be canceled.

Which apps will be affected?

However, this change will mainly affect apps that use special characters in transaction IDs, such as some small or local apps. But big and popular apps like Paytm and PhonePe will be unaffected by this change, as they already do not use special characters in their transaction IDs. Nevertheless, this rule will be mandatory for all UPI apps.

Purpose of the change and its benefits

NPCI has given time to all UPI apps for the change so that they can update their systems and make the transaction ID 35 digit alphanumeric. Apart from this, apps have also been advised to avoid duplicate transaction IDs. Experts believe that this change will improve the payment system, make it easier to track transactions and increase security.

Conclusion

With the expansion of digital payment systems in India, such changes are important to ensure the security and ease of transactions. Although this change may affect smaller apps, in the long run it will prove to be a strong and secure step for the Indian UPI ecosystem. UPI users need to be aware of these changes so that they can do their digital transactions without any hassle after February 1, 2025.