UPI outage disrupts digital payments nationwide, users vent online

India’s real-time payment backbone—the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)—suffered a widespread outage on Saturday, leaving users across the country unable to initiate payments or transfer funds. The disruption paralysed transactions for many small businesses and individuals who rely on the platform for everyday payments.

Chirag Barjatya, a fitness entrepreneur, voiced his frustration on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting the deeper problem of growing digital dependency in a country moving away from cash.

“I was so proud of UPI as a system. But…