UPI outage disrupts digital payments across India, users face transaction failures
New Delhi: A widespread disruption in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services affected thousands of users across India on Saturday morning, leaving many unable to complete digital transactions via platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.
Reports on Downdetector showed around 1,168 complaints by noon, with Google Pay accounting for 96 and Paytm for 23. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) confirmed intermittent technical issues causing partial failures in UPI transactions and assured users that efforts were underway to resolve the issue. They also expressed regret for the inconvenience caused.
The outage impacted several major banks including HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, further highlighting India's growing reliance on UPI for daily financial activities.
This marks the second major outage in recent weeks. On March 26, users had faced similar difficulties for 2–3 hours due to technical glitches.
Meanwhile, on April 8, the NPCI announced that international UPI transactions would no longer support QR code-based payments, aiming to ensure proper identification of the payer. Domestic QR-based payments remain unaffected.
The root cause of Saturday’s outage remains unclear, with possibilities ranging from server overloads and scheduled maintenance to cybersecurity concerns.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
