UPI payments may not work reliably after midnight for a few days, NPCI says upgrade in progress

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• NPCI's UPI platform will undergo upgradation process over the next few days.
• The upgradation process will take place between 1AM and 3AM over the next few days, the digital payment platform noted.
• Users should avoid making transactions in the time specifies by the NPCI.

The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)’s UPI platform will go under the upgradation process for the next few days, NPCI wrote on its Twitter account. The digital payment platform noted that the upgradation process will take place from 1AM to 3AM over the next few days and that users may face inconvenience. However, it did not specify the days the upgradation process will take place, saying that it will take place for the “next few days.” Users should avoid making transactions during the time specified by the NPCI.

“For you to have a better, safer payment experience, we’re upgrading our UPI platform. UPI users may face inconvenience from midnight 1am to 3am for the next few days,” the official NPCI account on Twitter noted.
NPCI runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) used for real-time payments between peers or at merchants' end while making purchases.

To create a better architecture for the growth of UPI transactions, the UPI platform will be under an upgradation process for next few days from 1AM - 3AM.
Users may face inconvenience, so we urge you all to plan your payments. pic.twitter.com/oZ5A8AWqAB

— India Be Safe. India Pay Digital. (@NPCI_NPCI) January 21, 2021

 NPCI on its website has noted that cyber threats are managed and mitigated by the Information Security team by "leveraging technologies appropriately deployed which are used by constantly trained professionals using well developed procedures adopted from various industry best practices and guidelines." It also notes that the NPCI has deployed various technologies to upgrade its security posture leveraging a multi-layered defense approach to combat evolving cyber threats.

There 165 banks that are currently listed on the BHIM UPI platform. As of October 2020, the NPCI recorded 155.14 million users on Android and 2.94 million users on iOS. The Covid-19 pandemic saw a surge digital payments as they are contactless and considered safer. Moreover they give discount coupons and cashback offers which draw more users. PhonePe surpassed Google Pay for the third consecutive month to dominate the UPI market. In December 2020, PhonePe processed 902.3 million transactions, which accounted for Rs 182,126.88 crores.

- Source India Today News