Tech3 | How NPCI's rule on UPI mapping created chaos; Deepinder Goyal commits $25 million to fund Continue; and more  

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In today’s newsletter: 

• How NPCI's rule on UPI mapping created chaos
• Deepinder Goyal commits $25 million to fund Continue
• Binance eyes India to drive its next billion users

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 How NPCI's rule on UPI mapping created chaos

What was meant to spark healthy competition among UPI apps quickly turned into a slugfest. 

• A single NPCI rule, designed to promote interoperability, ended up confusing users, alarming customers and forcing the payments body to step in

Behind the news: Late last year, several UPI apps began nudging customers to make them the “primary” app to receive money linked to their mobile number. 

• What seemed harmless soon turned into a free-for-all

One app’s move triggered similar moves from rivals and unsuspecting users found themselves switching their primary UPI app multiple times a month. The result?

Customers began reporting payment issues with the apps, complaining that they were not receiving payments in the app they considered primary. For many, that “primary” app was also where they tracked their transactions and account balances.

The case for a ceasefire: Several credit transactions suddenly went missing, alarming customers and raising questions about the credibility of the UPI platform itself.

NPCI eventually stepped in to stop the back-and-forth. Apps can no longer nudge users to make them the primary UPI app.

• Now, customers can set their primary app only through profile settings

Choice gone wrong: When NPCI first introduced the rule giving customers the ability to choose their primary app, it was expected to encourage interoperability.

• Since PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm together control nearly 90% of the UPI market, most customers had initially set these apps as their default for receiving payments

The rule gave smaller apps a rare chance to chip away at the dominance of incumbents. But instead of healthy competition, it turned into a slugfest of one-upmanship between apps.

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