NCPI introduces auto-debit for monthly bills

National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) Wednesday launched fintech payment solution UPI AutoPay for recurring payments at a virtual event Global Fintech Fest.

The added facility under UPI 2.0, allows customers using any
UPI application to make recurring payments such as mobile bills, electricity bills, EMI payments, entertainment, OTT subscriptions, insurance, mutual funds and loan payments, paying for transit, metro payments among others of upto Rs. 2000. If the amount exceeds Rs. 2000, customers have to execute every mandate with UPI PIN.

This essentially means that users of UPI-based apps can now be used to use auto-debit feature to pay monthly bills upto Rs 2,000.  

How to activate auto-debit feature

Any UPI-enabled application would also have a ‘Mandate’ section, through which customers can create, approve, modify, pause as well as revoke auto-debit mandate. The mandate section will allow customers to view their past mandates for their reference and records. UPI users can create e-mandate through UPI ID, QR scan or Intent. The pattern for auto-debit mandate has been created keeping in mind customers’ spends on recurring payments. The mandates can be set for one-time, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly, the NCPI said in a statement.

Mandates are generated instantly and payments get deducted automatically on the authorized date. The customers have to authenticate their account through UPI PIN for one-time and subsequent monthly payments would be debited automatically.

Which apps have gone live with feature

Some of the banks, merchants and aggregators who have already gone live with UPI AutoPay are Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, HSBC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Paytm Payments Bank, AutoPe-Delhi Metro, AutoPe-Dish TV, CAMS Pay, Furlenco, Growfitter, Policy Bazaar, Testbook.com, The Hindu, Times Prime, Paytm, PayU, RazorPay, among others. Jio Payments Bank, State Bank of India and YES Bank will soon go live with UPI AutoPay.

“UPI being the one stop destination for customers’ day-to-day spends, acts as a backbone of digital India. Introducing UPI AutoPay on UPI is a testament of continuous innovation in the digital payments space. This was also one of the key recommendations of the RBI Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments, which I chaired. It is a proud moment for the ecosystem to witness features like UPI AutoPay, which is technology-driven that requires minimum human intervention,” said Nandan Nilekani Chairman and Co-Founder, Infosys Limited.

He added that it NCPI was set up by RBI in 2009 to take over domestic ATM network and other domestic retail payments in India. In the last decade, NCPI developed many innovations in the area of digital payments which had a huge impact on the economy.  For example, the Immediate Payment System (IMPS) is the backbone of the remittance industry in the country.

“The launch of UPI AutoPay is a step ahead in India’s journey towards digitization. We have been witnessing a lot of changes in the way customers are making recurring payments over the last few years. The UPI AutoPay offering would provide millions of UPI user’s convenience and safety while making recurring payments. We believe, this facility will not only benefit customers, but also merchants with an all new recurring payments experience. We also hope to achieve new milestones by expanding UPI's presence especially in the P2M payment space,” said Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI.

The UPI 2.0 offers features such as overdraft facility, one-time mandate, invoice in the inbox and signed intent & QR and foreign inward remittance among others to the customers.