NPCI Launches UPI AutoPay Feature For Recurring Payments

The National Payments Corporation of India has added an auto-pay feature to Unified Payments Interface, allowing recurring payments via platforms build on UPI.

UPI AutoPay will allow customers to set up electronic payment mandates for multiple use cases such as subscription services, utilities, insurance premium payments, loan installments and even mutual fund investments.

“UPI AutoPay is a big milestone for the UPI product road map as it allows people to make repeat payments for multiple purposes. Mandates can be set up with daily weekly, monthly or annually, which means it opens up an entire host of use-cases and applications,” Praveena Rai, chief operating officer at NPCI said at the launch of the service during the Global Fintech Fest.

According to Dilip Asbe, managing director and chief executive officer of the NPCI, UPI AutoPay will not only benefit customers, but also merchants with an all new recurring payments experience. We also hope to achieve new milestones by expanding UPI's presence especially in the P2M payment space,” he said.

Once a customer sets up an electronic mandate with their utility provider or insurance company, they will receive a notification on their UPI-enabled mobile application. Thereafter, the customer must confirm details of the mandate and select the bank account to be debited. Once the terms are accepted and the customer authenticates the mandate via their UPI PIN, the AutoPay function will be enabled.

“Any UPI-enabled application would also have a ‘mandate' section, through which customers can create, approve, modify, pause as well as revoke auto debit mandate. The mandate section will allow customers to view their past mandates for their reference and records,” a statement by NPCI said.

Banks that have already gone live with UPI AutoPay are Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, HSBC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and, Paytm Payments Bank, it added.

The UPI AutoPay feature can be used to make small value recurring payments like subscriptions to online websites, mutual fund investments, insurance premium payments, recurring transactions with internet service providers or telecom companies, and also for travel expenses like metro or bus passes.

“UPI being the one stop destination for customers' day-to-day spends, acts as a backbone of digital India. Introducing UPI AutoPay on UPI is a testament of continuous innovation in the digital payments space,” said Nandan Nilekani non-executive chairman and co-founder, Infosys.

In January this year, the Reserve Bank of India allowed the NPCI to develop a recurring payments feature on UPI through electronic mandates. The regulator has allowed transactions worth up to Rs 2,000 to be carried out under this mode.

While UPI 2.0 has a mandate feature to enable customers to pay later or pre-authorise a one-time transaction via the UPI mandate system, the auto-pay feature is for recurring payments and is open to all customers and merchants.