[What’s New] What is UPI AutoPay, how it works, comparison with other recurring payment modes & more

National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) on 22nd July 2020, launched UPI AutoPay for recurring payments using the UPI trail. This facility is a part of UPI 2.0 

What is UPI AutoPay?

UPI AutoPay is a feature that allows customers to enable e-mandate using any UPI application without having to enter a PIN for every recurring payment such as EMI payments, insurance, mutual funds, ed-tech courses, utility bills, and OTT subscriptions among others.

UPI AutoPay feature benefits users as well as merchants because UPI mandates are generated instantly and payments are deducted automatically on the authorized date. 

A business can set the mandate for one-time, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly recurring payments.

How Does UPI AutoPay Work?

• A merchant that wants to offer recurring payments via UPI AutoPay needs to register with a recurring payments service provider like Cashfree Payments which supports UPI AutoPay. 
• Merchants can offer the user the option to create an e-mandate through UPI ID, QR scan or Intent. 
• On receiving the e-mandate authorization request, the user can open a UPI app, go to the mandate section, review the mandate details, select the bank/debit card and enter the UPI PIN to authorize the e-mandate. 
• Once the user authenticates, the bank account linked with the UPI ID will get auto-debited and the amount will flow to the merchant’s account as per the recurring payment terms. 

What is the Limit on UPI Autopay Transaction Value?

E-mandate on the bank account and debit cards: Rs. 1 lakh

E-mandate on UPI AutoPay: Upto Rs.15,000 can be set without UPI PIN for every debit

What is an On-Demand UPI Autopay?

Now that our concepts on UPI autopay and recurring billing are clear, let’s move on to the next topic. 

So, what are On-Demand UPI subscriptions?

Well, it is an extension of the UPI Autopay service. With On Demand subscriptions, businesses can personalize their recurring billing according to the customer’s requirement. 

But how is that different from normal UPI Autopay services? 

Here’s how-

So, you, as a merchant, can choose to edit the recurring billing specifications like:

1. Frequency
2. Amount 
3. Period

Here’s an example for better understanding.

Let’s say you own a gas agency. Now, the gas utility bill shall vary according to the units consumed. 

Price Per Unit	Gas Units Consumed	Time Period For Recurring Billing	Total Amount
Rs. 10/unit	100	28 days	Rs 1000
Rs. 10/unit	150	28 days	Rs. 1500

Hence, your On-Demand UPI Autopay PSP allows you to charge your user on the basis of their consumption. 

For more information on On-Demand UPI Autopay service by Cashfree Payments, click here.

Comparing UPI AutoPay and Other Recurring Payment Methods 

Recurring payments in India can be enabled using standing instructions on credit cards, e-mandate via authentication using net banking, debit card and also by enabling e-mandate using UPI AutoPay. 

Let us compare UPI AutoPay and other recurring payment methods.

Did you know?

The maximum amount for any one transaction with physical mandates is Rs 1,00,00,000 (1 crore or 10 million).

UPI AutoPay feature is not only easier for businesses to implement but is also convenient for users. Using any UPI App, a user can create, approve, modify, pause and also revoke auto debit mandates anytime. Moreover, the UPI AutoPay features gives the user access to their past mandates for their reference and records. 

List of Banks and UPI Apps Live on UPI AutoPay

As of August 2022, 140 banks are live on UPI AutoPay.

Further, BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) the mobile payment App developed by NPCI is the first UPI-based app to support the UPI mandate feature. 

Introducing UPI AutoPay on Cashfree Subscriptions 

We have added UPI AutoPay as an authentication mode on our recurring payments platform Cashfree Subscriptions. Therefore, with this update, Cashfree Subscriptions users can now offer their customers the option to enable recurring payments using the widest range of modes including standing instructions on credit cards, e-mandate-based payments via debit cards, net banking and UPI.

Cashfree Payments offers UPI Autopay services with 20+ UPI apps including PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM and Amazon Pay

Setting up Recurring Payments with Cashfree Subscriptions

With Cashfree, you can set up subscriptions and create a great experience for your customers while minimising engineering investment. Cashfree Subscriptions is fast to configure, preview, test and also to deploy.

Here is how Cashfree Subscriptions works!

Check out the integration guide for step-by-step instructions. 

Register to get early access to UPI AutoPay

Creating a UPI mandate using Cashfree Subscriptions UPI AutoPay is a simple process. Check out how Cashfree Subscription is the fastest and easiest way to enable recurring payments. [ UPI AutoPay mandate flow on WhatsApp included]

For our existing Cashfree Subscriptions users UPI AutoPay will be directly enabled on merchant accounts. Registrations for early access to UPI AutoPay are open. If you wish to integrate UPI AutoPay on Subscriptions you can register with us here. 

As always we would love to hear from you. Have any questions or feedback? Please let us know in the comments section.