Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe down: UPI outage disrupts digital payments across country; 3rd this month

Digital payment services were disrupted across the country on Saturday due to a significant outage in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system.

Users from across the country reported issues through social media and monitoring platforms, noting that widely-used apps such as Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay were not functioning properly. The outage created widespread inconvenience, especially for those relying on UPI for routine transactions like shopping, paying bills, and transferring money.

The problem drew a surge of complaints on Downdetector, a website that tracks service outages, with reports peaking at over 1,200 around noon. According to the site, 66% of users experienced difficulties with making payments, while 34% struggled with transferring funds. The disruption appeared to span across multiple banks and apps.

The root cause of the outage has not yet been identified, and no official explanation or timeline for resolution has been provided by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) or major UPI platforms. In the meantime, users are encouraged to use alternative payment options until services return to normal.