National Payments Corporation of India Expands WhatsApp Pay Services
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has removed the user onboarding limit for WhatsApp Pay, allowing the platform to extend its UPI services to its entire user base across India.
Previously, in November 2022, NPCI had raised the user limit for WhatsApp Pay to 100 million. With this recent decision, WhatsApp Pay is now authorised to provide UPI services to millions of users throughout India, potentially reaching over 500 million users.
Compliance with UPI Regulations
WhatsApp Pay will continue to adhere to all existing UPI guidelines and regulations that apply to Third Party App Providers (TPAPs). As of November, WhatsApp held the 11th position among UPI applications based on transaction volume, recording 51.76 million transactions valued at Rs 3,890.10 crore.
Extension of Compliance Timeline for TPAPs
In addition, NPCI has announced an extension of the compliance deadline for TPAPs exceeding the volume cap in UPI. The new deadline has been set for December 31, 2026, extending it by two years.
- This extension takes into account various operational factors impacting existing TPAPs that exceed the defined limit.
- The decision allows additional time for TPAPs to comply with the regulatory framework without interrupting services for users.
UPI Market Overview
Currently, PhonePe leads the UPI application market with nearly 48% market share by transaction volume, followed by Google Pay with 37% and Paytm with 7% market share.
This change marks the third significant decision regarding UPI in just a week. On December 27, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted holders of fully-KYC Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) to execute UPI transactions via third-party applications.