The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is set to allow users to port their existing UPI AutoPay mandates across different UPI apps and merchants. This interoperability will enable customers to shift recurring payment mandates such as subscriptions, insurance premiums, SIPs, or loan repayments from one payment provider to another without cancelling and recreating them, according to inc42.com. The announcement is expected at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai next month.
Under the proposed system, merchants switching payment gateways or acquiring banks will also be able to transfer existing mandates to new providers without requiring customers to re-register. The bank account linked to the mandate will remain unchanged, with recurring payments continuing to be debited from the originally authorised account. This cross-app access aims to simplify mandate management for both users and merchants, inc42.com reported.
This move by NPCI follows the launch of UPI AutoPay in 2020, which enabled recurring payments for services including subscriptions and mutual fund investments. The interoperability feature could particularly benefit smaller UPI apps by allowing them to retain users who switch platforms. Additionally, a unified view of mandates across apps may help users monitor upcoming debits and identify unused subscriptions more easily, enhancing payment transparency.
The interoperability of UPI AutoPay mandates is expected to be formally announced at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai next month, marking a significant step in India's digital payments infrastructure, according to inc42.com.