
UPI faces second outage in a week, disrupting transactions
digital payment system, experienced its second major outage within a week, disrupting transactions and frustrating users nationwide.
According to Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions, outage reports peaked at 520 at 7:23 PM. Around 53% of reported issues were related to fund transfers, while 44% involved payment failures.
On March 26, UPI users across the country faced difficulties executing transactions due to what the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) described as an «intermittent technical issue». NPCI, which operates the UPI network, acknowledged the issue and stated that the system has since been restored.
ET has reached out to NPCI for a comment on the matter.
The disruption affected major payment platforms, including Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm, as well as several banking applications. The recurring outages have triggered widespread frustration, with many users voicing their concerns on social media about failed transactions and difficulties accessing their accounts.
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UPI has cemented its position as the dominant payment method in India, accounting for 83% of the country’s total payment volume by the end of 2024, up from 34% in 2019, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s latest Payments System Report. The total value of UPI transactions surged from Rs 5.86 lakh crore in 2018 to Rs 246.83 lakh crore in 2024.
As UPI plays a central role in digital transactions, repeated outages raise concerns about system reliability and the need for stronger safeguards.