The National Payments Corporation (NPCI) has directed payment apps to deactivate UPI IDs that have been inactive for more than a year as of December 31. This move is aimed at preventing unintended money transfers if customers change their mobile numbers without disassociating their old numbers from the banking system.
TRAI’s directive on deactivated mobile numbers
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), telecom companies can issue deactivated mobile numbers to a new subscriber after 90 days. This could lead to unintentional transfers if the user does not update the mobile number associated with their bank account. As a result, Third Party App Providers (TPAP) and Payment Service Providers (PSP) are required to take action by December 31, 2023.
What UPI users need to do
Users of any UPI app, including Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, or any other app, need to ensure that their ID has not been left unused for more than a year.
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They should also check all phone numbers related to their UPI IDs and ensure that none of those have been inactive for over three months.
NPCI’s instructions
The NPCI circular instructs TPAPs and PSP banks to identify UPI IDs, associated UPI numbers, and phone numbers of customers who have not conducted any financial or non-financial transactions for a year through UPI apps. The UPI IDs and UPI numbers of such customers will be disabled for inward credit transactions, and the same phone numbers will be deregistered from the UPI mapper.
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Customers with blocked UPI IDs and phone numbers for inward credit transactions must re-register in their UPI apps to re-link their UPI. They can continue making payments and non-financial transactions using their UPI PIN as required.
