UPI: On New Year, NPCI extended the deadline for implementing volume cap by two years

New Delhi| National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has extended by two years the deadline for reducing market share in UPI for third party apps PhonePe and Google Pay. This is the second time that NPCI has extended the deadline. Both these apps have increased the market share to 48 percent and 37 percent respectively even after the arrival of new companies.

Market share of PhonePe and Google Pay continues to rise
In November, 2020 NPCI had stated that no third party app provider should have a market share of more than 30 percent of the total UPI transaction volume as of December 31, 2024. However, the market share of PhonePe and Google Pay continues to rise as Paytm faced challenges due to RBI’s action on Paytm Payments Bank.

Last month, 1,613 crore UPI transactions worth Rs 22.3 lakh crore took place. Paytm is regaining market share. Along with this, Naavi, Cred, BHIM, WhatsApp Pay and other new apps are growing strongly. Banks are also making their UPI app strategy. In such a situation, the market share of Google and Phone Pay may automatically decrease in the coming time.

A day earlier, in a major relief to WhatsApp, NPCI has removed the limit for inclusion of UPI users for third-party app provider WhatsApp Pay with immediate effect. With this, WhatsApp Pay can now provide UPI services to its entire user base in India. Earlier, NPCI had allowed WhatsApp Pay to expand its UPI user base in a phased manner. Let us tell you that WhatsApp Pay had a limit of 100 million users which has been removed by NPCI. NPCI is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks Association (IBA), an umbrella organization for operating retail payment and settlement systems in India.