Last Updated:
NPCI’s new UPI chargeback rules, effective July 15, 2025, aim to enhance user experience and trust.
UPI chargeback rules comes into effect from today.
The National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) newly introduced UPI chargeback rules, effective from July 15, 2025, are expected to significantly improve user experience and trust in the country’s fast-growing digital payment ecosystem. With nearly 600 million UPI transactions occurring daily, the need for a streamlined and time-bound dispute resolution framework has become critical.
A key change is the removal of the whitelisting requirement. Previously, if a user’s chargeback request was declined—often because it exceeded the claim cap—banks had to approach NPCI for special approval via the UPI Reference Complaints System (URCS). Now, banks can directly mark genuine, earlier-declined chargebacks as eligible for reprocessing, cutting delays and manual dependencies.
“It’s a necessary advancement in India’s payment ecosystem,” said Kishan Sundar, CTO of Maveric Systems. He noted the changes will drive upgrades in backend systems, including automated reconciliation and real-time dispute dashboards.
Kunal Varma, CEO and Co-founder, Freo added, “The process will now be less confusing and more trustworthy for users,” as strict turnaround timelines give users clarity and recourse.
Rohan Lakhaiyar of Grant Thornton Bharat highlighted that the chargeback changes address technical errors like double debits and fraud, which are increasing with rising UPI volumes. He emphasized that the strict TATs for issuing and acquiring banks will ensure disputes are handled efficiently.
A chargeback allows UPI users to raise formal disputes when a transaction fails but money is debited. The URCS platform continues to be the core mechanism for managing these disputes, now with fewer hurdles.
It aims at simplifying the chargeback process for those raised beyond the capping that were introduced in 2023. It will help foster confidence in the UPI payment system and allow users to raise legitimate chargebacks efficiently. Strict TAT mandates for acquiring and issuing banks for processing of chargeback request will ensure legitimate chargeback requests are resolved in a timebound manner and shall enhance trust in the system, Lakhaiyar added.
Rohith Reji, Co-founder and CEO , Neokred said, NPCI’s decision to let issuing banks manage genuine UPI chargebacks directly marks a quiet but significant shift.
“Removing the NPCI layer accelerates refunds from days to hours, eases working capital strain for small merchants, and deepens trust in real-time payment rails. While banks must now strengthen their early fraud detection systems, where tools like ProfileX are already seeing traction in the BFSI space. But the tradeoff is a payment system that scales more efficiently,” he added.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
view comments
- First Published:
