On Saturday morning, India’s bustling digital economy hit a speed bump as a major technical glitch crippled the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network, affecting millions of transactions across the country. Popular platforms like Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay bore the brunt of the disruption, leaving users—and their coffee payments—hanging mid-swipe.

According to DownDetector, the technical snag was no small affair, clocking in over 1,168 complaints by noon. Google Pay topped the list with 96 user-reported issues, followed by 23 from Paytm users. Even the banking bigwigs weren’t spared—HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and Kotak Mahindra Bank all experienced functionality issues, reflecting the widespread reach of the outage.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates UPI, acknowledged the disruption on X (formerly Twitter), stating:

“NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines. We are working to resolve the issue, and will keep you updated. We regret the inconvenience caused.”

This isn’t UPI’s first stumble in recent weeks. A previous outage on March 26 left users unable to perform transactions for nearly three hours. The pattern of interruptions is sparking concerns about the robustness of India’s digital payment infrastructure.

Given that UPI is the digital lifeline for countless daily transactions—ranging from grocery store purchases to high-value business payments—any downtime sends ripple effects across both personal and commercial spheres. The current outage comes at a sensitive time, closely following regulatory updates announced on April 8 by the NPCI regarding international UPI transactions. These new rules restrict the use of QR codes for cross-border payments to improve payer identification, though domestic transaction limits remain unaffected.

While these changes aim to bolster security, they also spotlight the growing complexity and stress on the system as it evolves to meet global standards. The cause of the current disruption remains unidentified, leaving room for speculation—from server overloads and maintenance lapses to potential cybersecurity threats.

The latest glitch underscores the nation’s heavy dependence on UPI and the urgent need for more resilient, fail-safe systems. With all major players—Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, and multiple banks—feeling the heat equally, there’s a collective call for coordinated improvements across the digital payments ecosystem.

In Short (TL;DR):

• A major UPI outage on Saturday disrupted digital payments nationwide.
• Platforms like Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay were impacted, along with major banks.
• NPCI confirmed intermittent issues but hasn’t revealed the root cause yet.
• This follows a similar UPI outage on March 26.
• New NPCI rules on international QR payments were also recently rolled out.
• The glitch raises concerns about the reliability of India’s digital payment backbone.