NPCI extends 30% UPI market share deadline for 3rd party apps to end 2026
In a big relief to Google Pay and Walmart-owned PhonePe, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has extended the deadline for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) providers to adhere to its 30% market share limit by two more years, until December 31, 2026.
In another development, NPCI has lifted the UPI user onboarding limit for WhatsApp Pay, allowing it to extend UPI services to its entire user base in India. Previously, WhatsApp Pay had been permitted to expand its UPI user base in a phased manner.
Both PhonePe and Google Pay together control over 85% of the UPI payments market. The extension provides them additional time to comply with the proposed market share limits. The rules, which impose a 30% volume cap on third-party UPI apps (TPAPs), do not apply to UPI apps offered by banks.
Vishwas Patel, Chairman of the Payment Council of India (PCI), commented, “We strongly believe that the Indian people themselves will choose from dozens of new UPI apps available. Paytm is regaining its lost market share, while Navi, Cred, BHIM, WhatsApp Pay, and many other apps are growing strongly. Banks are also strategizing their UPI app offerings. I strongly believe that in the next two years, the market itself will resolve this market cap issue. Blocking growth of incumbents is not the right strategy and would have surely slowed UPI’s growth.”
In November, NPCI data showed that out of the total 15.4 billion UPI payments, PhonePe processed 7.4 billion, while Google Pay accounted for 5.7 billion transactions. Paytm came next, followed by Navi, Cred, and others.
This marks the third time NPCI has postponed the deadline for implementing the market cap. The 30% limit for third-party UPI app providers was first proposed in November 2020.
