Digital retail payments grew by 50 per cent in the last five years through Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The growth rate surpassed that in all developed economies, even leading to reduced circulation of low denomination notes in India.
While the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has set a maximum daily UPI payment limit, banks like the State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank have implemented their own restrictions.
Additionally, UPI apps such as Google Pay, Paytm, and Amazon Pay UPI have defined transaction limits, affecting users’ daily and cumulative transfers.
To regulate UPI transactions, the NPCI has issued guidelines stipulating a maximum payment limit of Rs. 1 lakh per day. But individual banks have established their own limits for UPI transactions.
State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, has set a UPI limit of Rs. 1 lakh and the per transaction limit at Rs. 25,000.
HDFC Bank has set a limit of Rs. 1 lakh per transaction. For first-time UPI users, the transaction limit has been capped at Rs. 5,000 within 24 hours from the initial UPI transaction, as stated on the bank’s website.
In the case of IPO applications, HDFC Bank allows transactions up to Rs. 5 lakh. However, the bank’s mobile banking app currently does not support IPO applications, but customers can apply via its partner app Google Pay by linking their HDFC Bank accounts.
ICICI Bank says they have kept the upper limit mandated by NPCI, which is Rs. 1 lakh per transaction. But a maximum of 10 transactions can be initiated in 24 hours from the first transaction.
Bank of Baroda has mentioned transaction limits for fund transfers, bill payments, and merchant payments on its website as follows: When using the application/WAP, the per-transaction upper ceiling per customer is set at Rs. 25,000, while the daily upper ceiling is Rs. 50,000 for each category.
Canara Bank and Axis Bank, according to information available on the Google Pay website, have set a daily transaction limit of Rs. 1 lakh.
UPI Apps Have Different Caps
In addition to the predefined money limits, there is a possibility of reaching a daily limit if you attempt to send money more than 10 times across all UPI apps, according to Google Pay.
Paytm and Amazon Pay UPI have also set a daily limit of Rs. 1 lakh, with a total of up to 10 transactions permitted across all UPI apps and bank accounts. However, these limits can vary depending on the banks if you use their UPI application for transactions.
Further, Google Pay imposes a halt on the daily transaction limit when money requests of Rs. 2,000 and above are sent. Amazon Pay UPI restricts new customers to transactions of only Rs. 5,000 within the first 24 hours.
