In a major development for digital payments in India, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has removed the cap on unified payments interface (UPI) user onboarding for WhatsApp Pay. The announcement, made on Tuesday, allows WhatsApp Pay to offer its UPI services to its entire user base in India with immediate effect.

A Major Shift for WhatsApp Pay

Until now, WhatsApp Pay was limited to a cap of 100 million UPI users. This restriction had been lifted gradually over time, as the NPCI expanded the app's user onboarding limit in phases. With this latest announcement, WhatsApp Pay is now free to provide payment services to all its users, which number over 500 million in India, according to third-party data.

“WhatsApp Pay shall continue to comply with all existing UPI guidelines and circulars applicable to third-party app providers (TPAPs),” the NPCI stated in its notification.

Regulatory Changes Signal a Policy Shift

This move reflects a broader shift in regulatory policy aimed at fostering competition and innovation in India’s digital payments ecosystem. The NPCI has lifted the cap on WhatsApp Pay and postponed the enforcement of a regulation that restricts any one app's share of UPI transactions to 30% until December 31, 2026. Currently, market leaders Google Pay and PhonePe account for more than 85% of UPI transactions.

UPI’s Unprecedented Growth

The UPI platform has seen explosive growth since its launch in 2016. From January to November 2024, UPI facilitated a staggering 15,547 crore transactions, amounting to a total value of Rs223 lakh crore. These figures underscore UPI’s transformative role in India’s financial landscape, enabling 300 million individuals and 50 million merchants to engage in seamless digital transactions, according to research by IIM and ISB professors.

The NPCI highlighted its ongoing commitment to innovation in retail payment systems. It aims to transform India into a fully digital economy by offering secure and affordable payment solutions accessible across the country.

About NPCI

NPCI, established by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), operates as an umbrella organization for retail payments and settlement systems in India. It continues to drive India’s digital transformation by fostering advancements in payment technologies.