If you use UPI for making payments, this update is important for you. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is planning to make changes to certain UPI features due to a rise in online fraud and financial losses faced by users.
Features such as Collect and Autopay are under close review, as scammers are misusing them. New rules related to these features may be introduced in the coming time.
What Changes Is NPCI Planning?
According to media reports, NPCI has asked payment aggregators to get ready for changes to the Collect feature.
One major change being considered is gradually removing the Collect option from the person-to-person merchant category.
This step is aimed at stopping merchants from sending repeated payment requests to customers, which can sometimes be misleading or fraudulent.
What Is the Collect Feature?
The Collect feature allows a merchant to send a payment request to a customer. The customer then approves the request and completes the payment.
However, fraudsters often misuse this feature to trick people into approving payments unknowingly.
To reduce such fraud, NPCI is advising limited use of the Collect feature and encouraging payments through customer-initiated QR codes or direct push payments, which are considered safer and less prone to scams.
Why Is NPCI Being Strict About Autopay?
The Autopay feature is commonly used for subscriptions and bill payments. Many times, customers do not clearly understand the nature of the recurring payments they approve.
To address this issue, NPCI wants Autopay transactions to display clear and visible payment details, so users fully understand what they are authorizing. This will help prevent accidental approval of long-term or unwanted subscriptions.
