If you have ever received a call saying, “Sir, you have got a cashback of ₹5,000. To claim it, just approve the request on your UPI app…”, be careful!
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced a major step to stop such scams.
From October 1, 2025, all banks and payment apps like Google Pay, PhonePe,
and Paytm will completely stop the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) ‘Collect Request’ feature on UPI. This move aims to protect crores of users from online fraud.
What is a ‘Collect Request’ and How Was It Misused?
A ‘Collect Request’ (also called a Pull Transaction) allows someone to request money through UPI.
For example, if your friend Rahul owes you ₹500, you can enter his UPI ID, send a collect request, and he can approve it by entering his UPI PIN.
This feature was designed for friendly reminders, but scammers began misusing it. They lured people with fake lotteries, cashback offers, job opportunities, or OLX sales.
Pretending to send you money, they actually sent a payment request.
Many people, thinking they needed to enter their UPI PIN to receive money, unknowingly approved it—resulting in money being deducted from their account and sent to the fraudster.
Why NPCI Took This Decision
NPCI’s circular states that from October 1, 2025, P2P collect requests will no longer be processed. This ban applies only to money requests from one regular user to another.
You will still be able to:
Pay merchants on Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, IRCTC, etc. (merchant collect requests will continue)
Send money via QR codes, mobile numbers, or UPI IDs (Push Transactions)
Earlier, NPCI had reduced the collect request limit to ₹2,000 per transaction to curb fraud, but scammers kept finding new tricks.
With over 40 crore UPI users and 1,946 crore+ monthly transactions, stronger action was necessary.
What It Means for You
For regular UPI users, this is good news. You no longer need to worry about accidentally approving fake payment requests.
Your everyday payments, merchant transactions, and QR code scans will work as usual—only the option for common users to send ‘money requests’ to each other will be removed. This makes your UPI transactions safer than ever.
