India Delays UPI Payments Market Share Cap in Relief for PhonePe, Google Pay

Google Pay and PhonePe are the two most widely used payment apps in India .

By Reuters | Updated: 31 December 2024 20:59 IST

India Delays UPI Payments Market Share Cap in Relief for PhonePe, Google Pay

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ David Dvorcek

Google Pay and PhonePe collectively processed 13.1 billion transactions in November

Highlights

PhonePe's share of UPI payments stood at 47.8 percent in November
Google Pay's share was at 37 percent
NPCI's mandate to now kick off at the end of December 2026

India on Tuesday delayed the implementation of market share caps for a popular digital payments method by two years, a move that will benefit Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe.

According to the proposal, first made in November 2020, digital payment firms would not be allowed to hold more than 30 percent share of the volume of transactions processed via India's popular unified payments interface (UPI).

The mandate, which was to take effect from the end of 2024, will now kick in at the end of December 2026, according to a statement from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a quasi-regulator.

You Can Now Make UPI Payments Even Without an Account With This Feature

Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe are the two most widely used apps in India to make UPI payments. Other players include fintech companies such as Paytm, Navi, Cred and Amazon Pay.

PhonePe's share of UPI payments stood at 47.8 percent in November 2024 while Google Pay's share was at 37 percent, according to regulatory data. The two firms processed a combined 13.1 billion transactions in November, the data showed.

"The decision to delay the market share cap is aimed at not hindering the growth of the UPI ecosystem while also giving other players the time to grow," a person familiar with the discussions said, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they are not allowed to speak to the media.

Paytm Will Now Let You Download UPI Statements to Track Expenses

The NPCI did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The NPCI also lifted a cap on WhatsApp Pay's UPI product onboarding users, according to a separate statement on Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.