NPCI reportedly plans UPI AutoPay mandate portability across apps

NPCI is reportedly preparing interoperability for UPI AutoPay, enabling customers and merchants to move recurring-payment mandates between apps, payment gateways and acquiring banks. The proposal could reduce switching friction for merchants and boost competition among smaller UPI apps.

— Source publishedMon, 31 Aug, 2026, 11:36 IST·First seen Mon, 31 Aug, 2026, 12:14 IST·Source Inc42 · Buzz

What happened

NPCI is reportedly preparing UPI AutoPay interoperability, allowing customers and merchants to port recurring-payment mandates across apps, gateways and

Key facts

  • 1.8 Bn UPI e-mandate transactions processed by top 10 banks in July 2026
  • 585 Mn UPI e-mandate transactions in the year-ago period
  • 23.66 Bn UPI transactions worth ₹29.88 Lakh Cr in July 2026

Why this matters

Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in mandate-management, merchant migration and recurring-payments orchestration to capture demand created by interoperable AutoPay switching.

What to watch

  • NPCI circular, consultation paper or product specifications defining mandate-transfer flows.
  • Whether portability requires fresh customer authentication or supports transfer through standardized consent.
  • Scope by use case, including SIPs, insurance premiums, utility bills, OTT subscriptions, loan repayments and merchant subscriptions.
  • Allocation of fraud, chargeback, failure and dispute liability among the originating app, destination app, gateway, acquirer and bank.
  • Adoption commitments from major UPI apps, acquiring banks and leading payment gateways.
  • Merchant pricing changes, gateway switching offers and any rise in multi-acquirer deployments.
  • RBI guidance on recurring-payment consent, data sharing and customer-protection requirements.
  • Payment gateways and acquirers should map recurring UPI mandate volumes, portability-sensitive merchant cohorts and likely churn exposure.
  • Smaller UPI apps should build mandate-management, subscription reminders and migration-assisted onboarding features before standards are finalized.
  • Large UPI apps and banks should strengthen retention through reliability, customer support, rewards and merchant analytics rather than relying on mandate stickiness.
  • Subscription merchants should negotiate portability, reconciliation and service-level commitments into gateway and acquirer contracts.
  • Fintech infrastructure vendors should prepare APIs for mandate discovery, consent capture, transfer status, exception handling and audit trails.

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