The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has decided to discontinue the Person-to-Person (P2P) collect request feature on UPI from October 1, 2025. The aim of this change is to enhance security and prevent online fraud. After this, users will only be able to send money by scanning QR codes or using contact numbers.
New UPI Rule: There is big news for users who make payments through UPI. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that the Person-to-Person (P2P) collect request feature on UPI will be permanently discontinued from October 1, 2025. This feature was used to send money requests to someone, but it is being removed due to a rapid increase in fraud cases. Now, users will only be able to transfer money directly by scanning QR codes or to contacts, while merchants' collect requests will not be affected.
What is the Collect Request Feature?
The UPI collect request feature was essentially a way to request money. Through this feature, any user could send a payment request to another person. For example, it made it easier to request borrowed money back from friends or to split a bill. The user only had to send the request, and the other person would approve it and enter their UPI PIN to send the money instantly.
Why is this Feature Being Discontinued?
According to NPCI, this step is being taken for security reasons. In recent times, the misuse of this feature had increased. Fraudsters were sending payment requests to people by posing as bank officials or legitimate contacts. Many times, people would approve these requests without thinking, after which money would be deducted from their accounts.
To prevent these incidents of fraud, NPCI had already tightened the rules. The transaction amount limit was also reduced to around ₹2000. But now, to completely eliminate this risk, it has been decided to discontinue it.
How Will UPI Payments Be Made Now?
After October 1, users will have to use the old and secure methods to send money through UPI. This means you will only be able to send money by scanning QR codes, entering mobile numbers, or to saved contacts. The 'collect request' option will not be available to directly request money from someone.
This change will only affect person-to-person transactions. The collect request feature will continue to be available for merchants as before. This means that platforms like Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, Zomato, and IRCTC will continue to send payment requests during checkout. To approve these requests, the user will always have to enter their UPI PIN, which will keep the transaction secure.
When Will the New Rule Be Implemented?
NPCI has clarified that this rule will be implemented from October 1, 2025. After this, no UPI app like PhonePe, Google Pay, or Paytm will be able to process collect request transactions.
In the era of digital payments, security has become the biggest priority. This decision by NPCI may cause some inconvenience to the common users, but it will reduce the cases of fraud. Now every transaction will only happen at the user's initiative and there will be no scope to send money to someone else without their consent.
