India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the backbone of the country’s digital payment ecosystem, faced a significant outage today, marking the fourth disruption in less than three weeks. The outage, which began around 10:30 AM IST, affected millions of users across major platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and BHIM, as well as banking services linked to UPI, including those of State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank. The Payments Council of India, representing digital payment firms, has previously raised concerns about the sustainability of UPI’s free model, suggesting that transaction fees could help fund infrastructure upgrades. The disruption comes at a time when UPI handles nearly 85% of India’s digital transactions, with a record 16.99 billion transactions processed in January 2025 alone, according to NPCI data. Today’s outage, lasting over four hours for some users, brought much of the country’s digital economy to a standstill, impacting everyone from street vendors to large retailers and online businesses. On March 26 and April 2, 2025, similar outages disrupted services, with NPCI citing technical issues and high transaction volumes as contributing factors. Rajesh Kumar, a vegetable vendor in Mumbai, shared, “I lost half my sales today because customers couldn’t pay via UPI, and most don’t carry cash anymore.” Larger merchants, including e-commerce platforms, also faced delays in processing orders, with some temporarily switching to card payments or cash-on-delivery options. In an official statement posted at 1:36 PM IST, NPCI acknowledged the issue: “NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines. The government must ensure a reliable payment system for millions.” Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has remained silent on today’s disruption, though it has previously emphasized the need for robust payment systems. As UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments processing 93.23 billion transactions in the second half of 2024 alone, a 42% year-on-year increase the stakes are higher than ever. The NPCI has introduced innovations like UPI Circle, UPI Lite, and cross-border payment features, but recurring outages threaten to erode public confidence. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which oversees UPI operations, has attributed the issue to “intermittent technical glitches” but has yet to provide a detailed explanation. NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines. For consumers, the outage was a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in India’s digital payment infrastructure. For now, NPCI has assured users that full services will be restored soon, with teams working around the clock to address the issue. One user posted, “UPI down again? This is the third time this month I can’t pay for groceries!” Another remarked, “India’s cashless dream is crumbling with these frequent outages.” The hashtag #UPIDown trended briefly, reflecting public frustration. Social media platforms, particularly X, were flooded with complaints as users reported failed transactions and delays in payments. Additionally, the lack of immediate communication from NPCI and major banks left users in the dark, fueling speculation and distrust. We regret the inconvenience caused.” By 3:00 PM IST, partial services were restored, but some users continued to report problems with specific banks and apps. While NPCI has not confirmed any breaches, some analysts speculate that the outages could be linked to stress testing or vulnerabilities in the system. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, “UPI outages are becoming routine, exposing the fragility of our digital economy. Neha Gupta, a fintech researcher, noted, “UPI’s architecture is robust, but frequent outages suggest deeper issues—possibly server overloads, software bugs, or even external interference. As the country awaits updates, today’s outage serves as a wake-up call for stakeholders to prioritize reliability and transparency in the pursuit of a truly cashless economy.
This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Sat, 12 Apr 2025 10:50:15 +0000