The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has directed all payment applications to disable UPI IDs that have been inactive for over a year by December 31, 2023. This directive aims to enhance security and prevent potential fraud related to outdated or unused UPI IDs.
According to the new guidelines, third-party app providers (TPAPs) and payment service providers (PSPs) must identify UPI IDs linked to phone numbers that have not been used for payments or non-financial transactions in the past 12 months. Such inactive UPI IDs will be disabled for receiving funds, and the associated mobile numbers will be removed from the UPI mapping system.
This move comes after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulations that allow telecom providers to reassign inactive mobile numbers to new users after 90 days of inactivity. There is a risk that funds could be inadvertently transferred to the wrong person if the original UPI ID owner does not unlink their ID from an old number before getting a new SIM card.
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To avoid potential issues, the NPCI has advised UPI app users to review all mobile numbers linked to their IDs and ensure none have been inactive for over three months. Customers with disabled UPI IDs will need to re-register through their UPI apps to restore the linkage.
The NPCI aims to create a more reliable and secure digital payments ecosystem with this directive. Payment apps like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm have until December 31 to comply and disable all UPI IDs inactive for a year. Customers are advised to proactively manage their linked mobile numbers to avoid account deactivation.
