If you happened to embarrassingly apologise to a petrol pump attendant, shop clerk or delivery person today, you were not alone. A massive Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, crash took India's favourite digital payment apps - Paytm, Phone Pe, and Google Pay. And just like that, 2025 felt less like 2025, and a bit more like 1995.
According to Downdetector, reports of failed transactions began piling up from around 11:30am on 12 April. Around 76% of users said they couldn¡¯t complete payments, while another 23% were unable to transfer funds altogether. The cause of the glitch hasn¡¯t been officially confirmed.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said: ¡®NPCI is currently facing intermittent technical issues, leading to partial UPI transaction declines. We are working to resolve the issue and regret the inconvenience caused.¡¯
Today¡¯s crash comes just ten days after a similar disruption on 2 April, which was blamed on latency issues in bank systems. The recurrence has prompted questions about the reliability of India¡¯s booming digital payments infrastructure.?
Social media lit up with frustrated, funny, and downright desperate reactions.?
¡®UPI is down again. Should¡¯ve carried cash like my mum said,¡¯ one user posted.
¡®Can¡¯t pay the auto driver. Had to promise I¡¯d send him money once UPI¡¯s back,¡¯ wrote another.
¡®Spent 45 minutes choosing what to eat. UPI crashes the moment I hit ¡°order¡±. Pain is real,¡¯ one user tweeted on X.?
One user stuck at a petrol station shared: ¡®Filled the tank. UPI failed. No cash. Now explaining my situation to four employees.¡¯
With RuPay credit cards soon to be enabled for UPI, experts say the infrastructure needs urgent strengthening.??Until then, the message from users is clear: don¡¯t ditch your wallet full of cash just yet.
Because when tech takes a tea break, it¡¯s good old-fashioned cash that saves the day!