Banks, TPAPs to deactivate UPI IDs of inactive customers

financialexpress.com:

Individuals who have not done any transactions on their UPI IDs and numbers for over a year will not be able to receive funds from January. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has asked banks, payment service providers and Third Party Application Providers (TPAPs) such as PhonePe, Google Pay and others to deactivate UPI IDs and numbers of customers who have not performed any transactions for one year or more.

“All TPAPs and PSP (Payment Service Provider) banks shall identify UPI IDs and associated UPI numbers and phone numbers of customers who have not performed any financial (debit or credit) or non-financial transactions for a time period of 1 year from the UPI apps,” NPCI said in a circular.

“UPI IDs and UPI numbers of such customers shall be disabled for inward credit transactions,” it added.

The NPCI has set December 31 as a deadline to deactivate UPI IDs of inactive customers. The directive is aimed at ensuring that the money is transferred only to the intended recipients. When individuals change their mobile numbers, they usually forget to dissociate their UPI ID. When this number is used by a new user, the UPI ID of the previous user remains linked to it. This leaves the possibility of inadvertent transfer of funds to unintended recipients.  

“We will identify such inactive UPI IDs and as a good governance measure and send them a message and email. If there is no response within a specified time, we will deactivate those UPI IDs,” a bank official told FE.

He added that UPI IDs and UPI numbers of such customers shall be disabled for inward credit transactions which means that they will not be able to receive funds from others.  

“This initiative by NPCI is a positive step towards ensuring a hygienic