GPay, PhonePe Will Not Allow Users To Send Payment Requests From October 1: Here's Why

A key UPI feature is soon vanishing. UPI person-to-person (P2P) 'collect requests' will no longer be allowed starting October 1, as directed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). This means users on GPay, PhonePe, and other UPI apps will not be allowed to send payment requests to friends and families.

UPI’s P2P collect feature, commonly used to request money from friends or split bills, has increasingly become a target for fraudsters, who send deceptive payment requests that trick users into unwittingly authorizing transfers. Although NPCI had lowered the per-transaction limit to Rs. 2,000 and capped daily usage, scams persisted.

NPCI has therefore decided to eliminate the feature altogether to safeguard users and uphold UPI's trust and security standards.

NPCI is disabling person-to-person collect requests in a phased manner. However, merchant collect requests, used by platforms like Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, and IRCTC, will remain active. These still require user approval and UPI PIN entry to complete payments.

Furthermor, users can still send payments via 'Scan & Pay' or by entering the recipient’s UPI ID/number and authorizing with their PIN.

With the deactivation of this feature, GPay or PhonePe users will no longer be able to send 'please pay me' UPI requests to friends or peers, after October 1. To pay someone, users must initiate transactions, such as scanning a QR code, entering a UPI ID, or using contact selection within the UPI app.