The nation is experiencing a significant disruption in banking services that impacted a wide array of financial institutions, including major players like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, among others. This unprecedented outage primarily affected the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services, a key platform that facilitates seamless digital transactions. As a result, numerous users found themselves unable to process or receive payments through UPI, disrupting daily activities and transactions for both individuals and businesses alike.
As reported by DownDetector, there were approximately 2,750 complaints regarding UPI issues by 7:50 PM. Google Pay users accounted for 296 of these complaints, while Paytm users reported 119 issues. Additionally, 376 complaints came from users of the State Bank of India (SBI), with many of them citing problems with funds transfers and online banking services. One user on social media expressed their surprise at encountering UPI downtime for the first time, noting that they had not experienced similar issues with banks or payment gateways in the past.
UPI or NPCI is yet to respond to this issue. However, the issue has started meme fest on X (formerly Twitter). A users wrote, “UPI is down for the first time & it is already showing an impact.Most of us already stopped carrying liquid cash & this downtime has created a do or die situation Elders were right about carrying cash ”.
Another users said, “UPI has been failing since the last hour servers are down.Aaj bartan dhulwa ke hi manega”.
In other news, the central government has approved an incentive scheme of Rs 1,500 crore to promote small-value BHIM-UPI transactions up to Rs 2,000. The initiative, named 'Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Low-Value BHIM-UPI Transactions Person to Merchant (P2M)' for the financial year 2024-25, was approved by the Cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The scheme aims to support small merchants and facilitate digital payments for consumers.
ALSO READ: EPFO to enable UPI, ATM withdrawals for provident fund from June, expand pension access