The disruption marked the third major UPI outage in less than a month, raising concerns about the stability of one of the world’s largest real-time payment systems.
UPI Down: Unified Payments Interface (UPI), faced a major nationwide disruption on Monday evening, leaving millions unable to complete transactions on platforms like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. The outage caused widespread inconvenience to users and merchants alike, sparking frustration and triggering a flood of complaints online.
Transaction Failures Rattle Users and Merchants
Payment failures were reported across leading UPI apps, with users encountering repeated error messages and failed payment attempts. On Paytm, for instance, many users saw a pop-up message stating, “UPI app is facing some issues.” The disruption marked the third major UPI outage in less than a month, raising concerns about the stability of one of the world’s largest real-time payment systems.
Social media platforms were soon abuzz with user reports flagging payment issues, while Downdetector — a website that tracks outages — saw a surge in problem reports linked to UPI services, indicating the extent of the technical snag.
Surge in UPI Usage Highlights the Stakes
The outage comes at a time when UPI usage in India is hitting record highs. In March, UPI clocked 18.30 billion transactions, bouncing back from February’s 16.11 billion — a 5 per cent dip. The value of these transactions rose sharply too, with March recording a total of Rs 24.77 lakh crore, up 12.8 per cent from Rs 21.96 lakh crore in February.
Given UPI’s deep integration into everyday payments — from groceries to cab fares — any breakdown in the system is felt instantly by millions. With increasing dependence on digital payments, such outages pose a serious challenge to consumer trust and financial reliability.
PhonePe and Google Pay Dominate Despite Glitches
Despite the hiccups, leading platforms continue to dominate the UPI ecosystem. PhonePe, which is reportedly prepping for its IPO, processed 864.7 crore transactions in March alone, accounting for 47.25 per cent of all UPI transactions. Google Pay held the second-largest share, contributing 36.04 per cent of total transaction volume and 34.98 per cent of the transaction value.
Meanwhile, the government is pushing forward with its digital payments agenda. In a recent move aimed at empowering small businesses and encouraging micro-transactions, it approved a Rs 1,500 crore incentive scheme for promoting low-value transactions via the BHIM-UPI platform.
As India charges ahead on the path of digital finance, the recurring UPI outages raise a red flag. Ensuring the reliability and resilience of such a critical payment infrastructure is now more urgent than ever.
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