July 16, 2025: UPI users across India experienced intermittent disruptions today, with transactions failing on major apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) confirmed “intermittent technical issues” as the cause, and assured users that engineers are working to resolve the problem.
🔎 Key Details
- Scope of disruption: Partial transaction failures reported nationwide around evening peak hours
- Affected platforms: Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe, along with SBI mobile and online banking users.
- Public reaction: Social media lit up with humorous memes and reminders to carry cash, reflecting user frustration.
A previous outage in April—lasting over five hours—was traced to excessive automated API calls from banks checking transaction status. To prevent a recurrence, NPCI plans to implement API usage limits starting July 31, restricting non-transaction calls such as balance enquiries during peak periods.
🛠️ What You Can Do Now
- Use cash or cards for urgent payments
- Use UPI Lite or alternate modes if available (e.g., QR-less UPI)
- Check status updates via NPCI’s official channels or your payment app
With millions of transactions processed daily via UPI—often exceeding 80% of India’s retail volumes—reliability is critical. Today’s glitch highlights the system’s vulnerabilities, while efforts are underway to enhance its long-term resilience.