The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on June 05, 2026, issued circular on Safeguarding User Information in UPI.
The circular highlights the importance of user privacy in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, where payments are facilitated through unique UPI IDs. UPI Member Banks and UPI Apps are responsible for safeguarding customer information in compliance with applicable laws.
To strengthen privacy measures, it has been mandated that sensitive user details such as UPI IDs, mobile numbers, and account numbers must be masked across all customer-facing interfaces and communications. This step aims to prevent unauthorized access and protect user data.
Additionally, UPI Apps are required to provide users with the option to create non-mobile number-based UPI IDs and allow them to set such IDs as their default. This further enhances privacy by reducing dependency on mobile numbers as identifiers.
All UPI Member Banks and UPI Apps must implement these changes across their systems and interfaces by September 04, 2026, ensuring improved data protection and user confidentiality.
[Circular No. NPCI/UPI/OC-234/2026-27]
