Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Daily Limit, UPI ID, QR Code, Recent Developments

Updated on September 7, 2026Author:NEXT IAS Contributors

The full form of UPI is Unified Payments Interface (यूनिफ़ाइड पेमेंट्स इंटरफ़ेस). It is an instant and real time digital payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016. UPI provides the facility to link multiple bank accounts under a single application (android/ios). It requires just one time authentication and then all payment transactions can be done easily using a 4 to 6 digits UPI pin.

The benefits of UPI is financial inclusion such as a cashless economy and formalizes micro-businesses. It reduces the physical cash handling cost and removes the merchant payment gateway charges.

The problem before UPI was complex bank transfers which needed account numbers and IFSC code. Earlier, the non-interoperable mobile wallets limited the adoption whereas the Point of Sale (PoS) machines were expensive for small vendors.

The UPI offers to send or receive money between bank accounts to another using a smartphone. The UPI is now active in 11 countries for acceptance including Bhutan, Nepal, UAE, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Qatar, Cambodia, Greece and Maldives. Bhutan was the 1st country in 2021 and France became the 1st European country in 2024 to adopt UPI.

UPI Limit Per Day

The standard UPI transaction limit set by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is Rs. 1,00,000 per day for the users. However, these transaction limits may vary by the bank policy and the category of the transaction. For example, the payments for capital markets, insurance, travel and government collections allow a limit of up to Rs. 5 lakh per transaction and Rs. 10 lakh per day for verified merchants. Mostly, the banks impose a cap on each transaction of Rs. 1 lakh and may restrict the number of daily transactions usually up to 20. Some banks such as Union bank offer higher daily limits of up to Rs. 2 lakh.

How to Create a UPI ID?

S.No.	Steps to follow
1	Install any UPI-enabled application. For example, Bharat Interface for Money or BHIM, Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm.
2	Register using your mobile number linked to your bank account.
3	Verify through a One Time Password or OTP and set a secure MPIN for application login.
4	Link your bank account: select your bank. The application will fetch account details via National Payments Corporation of India or NPCI.
5	Create your UPI ID or Virtual Payment Address (VPA) and choose a unique address such as yourname@bank or mobile@upi.
6	Set a 4 to 6 digit UPI PIN using your debit card details such as last 6 digits and expiry date of debit card.
7	Your UPI ID is now active. Share it to send or receive money instantly.

UPI QR Code Generator

A UPI Quick Response Code generator can create a QR code which encodes your UPI ID or VPA and name that enables instant payments without sharing the bank details. The individuals and merchants can generate QR codes through UPI QR specifications of NPCI, bank portals or third party gateways. The Quick Response or QR follows the UPI intent flow standards which contain the payee name, address, amount and currency. To generate the QR code, you can enter your UPI ID and name, optionally set the amount then click on "Generate". You can download and print or display for accepting payments. The customers can scan with any UPI application, verify details and pay instantly. The static QRs are for fixed amounts whereas the dynamic QRs allow flexible amounts and are preferred for billing systems. At the end, we must ensure that the QR complies with the NPCI guidelines to avoid fraud or rejection.

Recent Developments

S.No.	UPI Feature	Recent Update
1	UPI Lite	It is an on-device wallet for small, fast and PIN-less payments. The balance is stored locally to reduce core banking load.
2	UPI Lite X	It is an enhanced offline version. It supports tap-to-pay on NFC devices for very small amounts without opening the application.
3	Credit Line on UPI	It is a pre-sanctioned bank credit line linked as a funding source on UPI. The beneficiary can repay like a normal loan.
4	RuPay Credit Card on UPI	These are the RuPay credit cards linked to UPI addresses. It is spent via UPI but charged to a credit card. It is eligible for rewards or EMI.
5	UPI 123Pay (Feature Phones)	It offers UPI for feature phones via IVR, SMS and application lite flows. No smartphone or internet needed.
6	Hello! UPI (Conversational Payments)	The voice or chat-based UPI payments via conversational interfaces.
7	BillPay Connect	It is used for conversational bill payment integration. The users can pay recurring bills through chat or voice with auto-fetch of bills.
8	Aadhaar Face Authentication on UPI	Aadhaar-linked face biometric to set or reset UPI PIN without visiting bank. It enhances onboarding for non-smart users.
9	Wearables & Glasses for UPI Lite	Small-value UPI Lite payments through smartwatches and Augmented Reality (AR) glasses.
10	NFC Tap & Pay (Offline UPI)	NFC based tap-to-pay using UPI Lite balance. It works even with limited connectivity at terminals such as metro and flights.
11	UPI AutoPay Portability (Upcoming)	It provides an ability to port existing AutoPay mandates such as SIPs, EMIs, subscriptions from one application to another without cancellation.

BHIM UPI

The Bharat Interface for Money or BHIM is India's official UPI application launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The BHIM UPI enables instant and secure payments using a UPI ID, mobile number or QR code. BHIM supports features such as bill payments, Aadhar based authentication and UPI lite for small, offline transactions. It is interoperable with all UPI applications in order to pay irrespective of any application. The important advantages of BHIM UPI include strong security such as MPIN, no transaction fees for standard payments and multilingual support. BHIM is widely used by individuals, small merchants and government schemes for direct benefit transfers (DBT). It reflects India's push for a cashless, digital economy by simplifying payments for all citizens.

FAQs about UPI

What is the full form of UPI?

The UPI full form is Unified Payments Interface. It is India's instant real time payment system.

What is UPI ID?

UPI ID is a unique virtual payment address which is used to send or receive money without sharing bank details.

How much money can be transferred through UPI?

Rs. 1,00,000 per day can be transferred through UPI.

How to change the UPI pin in google pay?

To change the UPI pin in google pay, you can follow the steps: Open Google Pay, go to profile, bank account, change UPI PIN and verify through OTP and debit card.

How to change the UPI pin in phonepe ?

To change the UPI pin in phonepe, you can follow the steps: Open Phonepe, go to profile, bank accounts, select bank, change UPI pin and follow the steps for OTP and card steps.