The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has instructed banks and payment service providers to suspend UPI services for dormant or re-issued mobile numbers from April 1. The action is intended to check unauthorized transactions and fraud, since mobile numbers are extremely important in OTP-based UPI transaction authentication.
Why UPI Services Are Being Suspended?
Telecom companies reassign mobile numbers that remain unused for a long period. If a user’s old number is reassigned to someone else, there is a risk that their UPI-linked account could also fall into the wrong hands, leading to fraudulent transactions.
To prevent this, banks and UPI apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm will remove inactive numbers from their systems as per NPCI’s guidelines.
What Will Happen Next?
- Banks and payment companies will determine inactive, re-issued, or deactivated numbers.
- Such number users will get notified of suspension of UPI services.
- Banks will de-list the number from UPI services if even after notification, the number still stays inactive, in order to curb fraud.
Who Will Be Impacted?
The below-mentioned users might be UPI suspended:
- Those users who modified their mobile number but failed to modify it in their bank.
- Users who associated their UPI account with a number but have not used it since long (no calls, messages, or UPI transactions).
- Users who parted with their mobile number without having updated bank records.
- Previous owners of mobile numbers which have now been reassigned to another party.
How to Maintain Your UPI Services Active?
To prevent UPI suspension, do the following:
- Make a call or send a message to check whether your mobile number is active or not.
- Make sure to get OTP and SMS notifications from your bank.
- Update your phone number with your bank by going to a branch or through net banking.
By taking these precautions, you will be able to use UPI without facing any disruptions.
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