Unified Payments Interface: 30% cap done to ‘protect ecosystem’ but may end up being an own goal

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)’s decision to cap the number of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions by any one third-party app provider at 30 per cent of total volumes may have been done “to address the risks and protect the UPI ecosystem”, but players in the ecosystem have said the move could disincentivise platforms from on-boarding customers of a lower ticket size, and, in effect, could thwart the efforts to accelerate digital payments. The NPCI, which is yet to issue the SOP for the newly introduced restrictions on transaction volumes, is learnt to have met stakeholders on Friday to discuss the issue.