If you use collect request to ask for money from friends or acquaintances through UPI, then there is important news for you. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that from October 1, 2025, the Person-to-Person (P2P) collect request feature on UPI will be completely discontinued. This means that UPI apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm will not support this feature. The purpose of this step is to make online payments more secure and prevent cases of fraud.
What is the Collect Request feature?
UPI’s Collect Request feature allows users to ask for money from another person. For example, if you have shared a dinner bill with a friend or want to ask for money back borrowed from someone, you can send a payment request through this feature. This feature was very helpful for the users, but scammers started taking advantage of it.
Why did fraud cases increase?
According to NPCI, scammers have started trapping people by misusing this feature. They send fake requests by posing as bank officials, company representatives or acquaintances. Many times users unknowingly approve such requests, due to which money gets deducted from their account. NPCI had earlier imposed a limit of Rs 2,000 on this feature, which reduced the cases of fraud to some extent. But now it has been decided to shut it down completely so that such risks can be eradicated from the root.
What will be the effect on UPI users?
After October 1, 2025, users will not be able to send collect requests through UPI. Now there will be only two ways to make payments:
- Paying by scanning QR code.
- Sending money directly to a contact.
This change may make everyday small transactions, such as sharing bills among friends, a little difficult. However, NPCI says that this step is necessary for the safety of users.
No change for merchants
The good news is that this decision will not affect merchants. Online shopping platforms like Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, Zomato and services like IRCTC will be able to send payment requests as before. These transactions require user approval and UPI PIN, which makes them secure.
What do experts say?
Payment industry experts believe that this step will make UPI more reliable. An expert said, “Many people were falling prey to scams due to the collect request feature. Closing it is a step in the right direction.” Also, users are being advised to never approve unknown requests and keep their UPI PIN confidential.
