Fraudsters will mourn the end of UPI payment requests

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has phased out a major feature of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) that has long made peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions both convenient and risky. From 1 October, the "collect request" option for P2P transactions has been withdrawn. This is a decisive step to combat a surge in financial fraud within India's digital payments ecosystem.

- MEGHA JAIN & VANYAA GUPTA

UPI has revolutionized the way Indians transfer money, making payments instant, secure and cashless. Yet, the "collect request" or "pull transaction" option, which would let a UPI user request money from another user, proved to be a double-edged sword. Unlike conventional 'push' transactions, where the payer initiates and authorizes a bank transfer, 'pull' transactions require the recipient to send a request and the payer to approve it via a UPI PIN code. The feature had promised UPI users convenience, but it also opened the door to exploitation by fraudsters who prey on human psychology, trust and digital inexperience.