RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has pointed out that the frequent disruptions in UPI payments are mainly due to the banks’ outdated technology rather than issues with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the UPI platform. During a press conference following a policy meeting, Governor Das emphasized that the NPCI’s infrastructure is not at fault for the downtime.Instead, the problems arise from the banks’ end, including their networking links, which are being addressed.
Digital payment failures are on the rise, causing financial distress for banking customers. Notably, on June 4th, many investors were unable to execute transactions during a market downturn, leading to missed financial opportunities.
UPI transactions exceed 450 million daily, and in May 2024, banks experienced 31 instances of downtime, resulting in payment gateways being offline for over 47 hours, as per NPCI data.
Regulated entities must report all system outages, whether scheduled or unexpected. The RBI has been striving to minimize these incidents, which have now been reduced to below 1%.
To alleviate the strain on banks’ systems, the RBI has introduced UPI Lite, which handles 10 million transactions monthly, as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance digital payment reliability.