NPCI has decided to discontinue the P2P ‘Collect Request’ feature in UPI from October 1, 2025. This step is to prevent fraud. It will not affect merchant transactions, while individual users will have to adopt alternatives such as direct transfers.
UPI Update: Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the most popular and trusted medium in the field of digital payments in India, is set for a significant change from October 1, 2025. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently announced that the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) 'Collect Request' feature in UPI will be discontinued from October 1. This decision has been taken primarily to enhance financial security and prevent fraud cases.
What was the 'Collect Request' feature?
The 'Collect Request' or pull transaction feature allowed UPI users to request money from another user. Through this feature, any user could request outstanding payments from their friends or family. This feature was initially created to remind users of pending payments.
However, as its use increased, scammers began to misuse it. Incidents of sending many fake requests and deceiving users into approving payments came to light. This is why NPCI decided to discontinue this feature.
Current Limit of P2P Collect Transactions
According to NPCI's circular, P2P collect requests will not be processed after October 1, 2025. Currently, the limit for a 'Collect' transaction is ₹2,000 per person, and a maximum of 50 successful P2P credit transactions can be made in a day.
However, this facility will continue for merchants. Merchants will be able to use 'Collect Request' to receive payments from their customers. This means that this feature will only be discontinued in individual transactions, while it will remain permissible in commercial transactions.
Objective of NPCI
NPCI has clarified in the circular that all member banks and UPI apps should not initiate, route, or process P2P 'Collect Requests'. This step has been taken primarily to protect users from potential fraud and strengthen the security of the digital payment system.
In addition, after the arrival of new features like split payments in UPI, the individual use of collect requests had reduced. Earlier, where this feature was useful for small outstanding payments between friends or family, split payments and other options have now reduced its importance.
Role of UPI in Digital Payments
UPI has made digital payments very easy and secure in India. It processes approximately 20 billion transactions every month, with a total value of approximately ₹25 lakh crore. There are approximately 400 million unique UPI users in the country, and this number is constantly increasing.
The discontinuation of this feature of UPI will bring some changes in individual transactions, but the security and reliability of the digital payment system will increase. This step by NPCI is an important initiative towards protecting users from fraud and ensuring transparency in transactions.
Alert for Users
UPI users should be fully aware of this change. After October 1, no one will be able to request money through P2P collect requests. Therefore, if there is a need to request money from friends or family, other options such as direct transfer will have to be used for this.
Merchants should also be aware of this change so that they do not face any kind of hindrance in their business transactions. Vigilance and caution towards digital payments is the biggest need of the hour.
