Paytm (NSE: PAYTM), Meta-backed CRED, and Flipkart’s Super.money are among several Indian digital payments companies opposing a proposal that could reshape how customers complete transactions on the Unified Payments Interface network.
The firms signed a letter dated July 23 addressed to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that oversees the UPI network, warning that the proposal could “adversely impact” competition across the payments landscape.
The proposal, referred to internally as UPI Meta or UPI Checkout, would allow merchants to store a customer’s preferred UPI payment handle or linked bank account for use at future checkouts.
Rather than selecting a payments app each time, customers would proceed directly to authentication via PIN or biometric verification, mirroring the convenience already offered by saved card details.
Critics argue the streamlined system would effectively lock users into whichever app they selected at the initial setup stage, making it difficult for smaller players to attract new customers.
“The proposed framework is expected to materially increase persistence of customer preference towards the (third party apps) selected during the initial setup process,” the companies said in the letter.
The firms further argued that once a customer saves a UPI ID with a merchant, they are unlikely to switch, giving larger, established platforms a structural advantage that smaller apps cannot easily overcome.
UPI processed over 227 billion transactions worth more than 28 trillion rupees, equivalent to approximately $289.94 billion, in June alone, according to NPCI data, cementing its status as one of the world’s most widely used fast payment networks.
Walmart-backed PhonePe and Alphabet’s Google Pay (NASDAQ: GOOG) already account for roughly four-fifths of all UPI transactions, a concentration that regulators have long flagged as a competitive concern.
NPCI introduced a plan back in 2020 to cap any single UPI app’s market share at 30%, but has repeatedly delayed enforcement, with the current compliance deadline set for December 2026.
The opposition from payments firms reflects broader anxieties that policy changes intended to improve user convenience could inadvertently solidify the grip of dominant platforms at the expense of the broader ecosystem.
NPCI and the companies named in the letter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
