The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced new guidelines for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction IDs, which will take effect from February 1, 2025. Under these rules, any transaction ID containing special characters such as #, @, $, or * will be blacklisted and rejected by the central system.
According to a circular issued by NPCI on January 9, 2025, UPI service providers and payment apps must ensure that transaction IDs contain only letters (A-Z, a-z) and numbers (0-9). Special characters, including punctuation marks and symbols, will no longer be allowed.
From February 2025, any UPI transaction with a non-compliant transaction ID will be declined automatically. This means users and businesses relying on UPI payments must ensure that their payment apps follow the new regulation.
NPCI has urged all UPI ecosystem participants, including banks, fintech companies, and payment service providers, to implement the necessary changes before the deadline. The move is aimed at enhancing security, improving compliance, and ensuring uniformity in UPI transactions.
What should you do now?
You should immediately check your UPI ID via the app that you are using such as Paytm, PhonePe or Google Pay. If your UPI ID contains any such special characters then you must change your UPI ID. On Paytm, PhonePe and Google Pay, you can click on your profile and easily check UPI ID. If you face any issues, then you can ask in comment section below.
India’s Digital Payment Growth
UPI has played a crucial role in India’s digital payments boom. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) payment system report, UPI transactions accounted for 83% of all digital payments in 2024, a sharp increase from 34% in 2019.
Other payment systems, such as RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, credit cards, and debit cards, have seen their combined share in digital transactions decline from 66% in 2019 to 17% in 2024.
At a macro level, UPI transactions have surged from 375 crore in 2018 to 17,221 crore in 2024. The total value of UPI payments has also skyrocketed from ₹5.86 lakh crore in 2018 to ₹246.83 lakh crore in 2024.
Why the Change?
NPCI’s decision to ban special characters in transaction IDs is part of its ongoing efforts to enhance security and technical efficiency in India’s digital payment system. With UPI becoming the backbone of digital transactions, such measures aim to make the system more robust, reliable, and secure.
All UPI users and service providers are advised to update their systems and ensure compliance before the February 1, 2025 deadline to avoid any disruptions in transactions.
