The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that starting February 1, 2025, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions containing special characters in their transaction IDs will no longer be processed. The directive mandates that all UPI transaction IDs must follow a 35-digit alphanumeric format to ensure system efficiency and standardization across the payment ecosystem. The change supports India’s broader efforts to strengthen its digital payment infrastructure, which includes the recent implementation of mandatory multi-factor authentication requirements for various financial services.
Under the new requirements, Payment Service Providers (PSPs) must ensure their systems generate transaction IDs that comply with the 35-digit alphanumeric specification. The NPCI has indicated that transactions failing to meet these technical criteria will be automatically declined by the central system. The standardization comes as India continues to enhance its digital payment security measures, including the recent launch of a searchable cyber scammer database to combat digital fraud.
“UPI transactions containing special characters in their transaction IDs will be declined by the central system. Only transaction IDs that follow an alphanumeric format will be processed successfully,” said Mohan K, Founder of TechFini.
Industry experts report that most major payment ecosystem players have already implemented the necessary changes to comply with the NPCI’s requirements. “If a consumer is using any of the PSPs who are still non-compliant with this NPCI direction post February 1, 2025, then they will not be able to transact using UPI through that PSP,” explained Alok Singh, Executive VP – Digital Business at Ongo.
“This significant move aims to bring uniformity in UPI day-to-day operations and further augment technical standardization,” said Rahul Jain, CFO of NTT DATA Payment Services India. “National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has given an adequate amount of time to the industry players to make the transition and adhere to UPI technical criteria.”
The implementation timeline provides PSPs with sufficient lead time to update their systems and ensure compliance before the February 2025 deadline. The standardization initiative is part of NPCI’s ongoing efforts to enhance the technical infrastructure supporting India’s UPI payment system, which has seen rapid adoption alongside other digital identity initiatives such as Aadhaar-based eKYC systems for financial services.
Sources: ET Wealth Online, Wikipedia, IndusInd Bank
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