If you rely on UPI payments for most of your transactions, then this is crucial for you. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced a big change to UPI to enhance security and prevent transaction-based fraud. Starting October 1, 2025, NPCI is going to disable person-to-person (P2P) collect requests. The move is aimed at reducing the chances of fraudsters tricking users into authorising payments unknowingly.
This “collect request” or “pull transaction” feature has allowed users to send a request for money to another person through the UPI platform. While the feature was originally intended for convenient use cases like reminding friends about a debt or splitting a bill, it has become a tool for fraudsters and other malicious actors.
Fraudsters would often send these requests in the guise of a fake role or demand, forcing users to accept the request. If a user approves it without understanding the situation, they lose money instantly.
NPCI ending request payment feature from October 1
In an official circular issued on July 29, the NPCI instructed banks and payment apps to cease processing all such P2P collect transactions from October 1. It is to be noted that these types of fraud have reduced in recent years, largely due to NPCI capping the transaction value at around Rs 2,000. However, with the complete removal of the feature, NPCI aims to eliminate this avenue for fraud entirely.
Hence, the only way to make transactions via UPI will involve the sender scanning a QR code or selecting the contact and entering the UPI pin to execute the transaction.
What happens to Zomato, Amazon, and IRCTC bill payments via UPI?
Note that this change does not affect merchant transactions. Services like Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, and IRCTC will still be able to send collect requests to customers to complete a purchase from within their portals. These requests are a standard part of the checkout process and require user approval and a UPI PIN to complete the payment, thus making them a secure and regulated transaction type.
The NPCI specifies that after the October 1 deadline, all member banks and UPI apps will no longer be permitted to initiate, route, or process these P2P collect transactions.
