UPI payment stuck or failed? 6 things you can do to complete your transaction (2024)

New Delhi,UPDATED: May 29, 2023 17:05 IST

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has literally eased our lives. Whether we're shopping in a mall or fueling up the vehicle at the petrol pump, just a few taps and payments are completed online. However, as the dependency on UPI payments has grown, many people no longer carry cash and often find themselves in embarrassing situations when UPI fails or gets stuck. For instance, many of us have been in a situation where we tried to pay the auto driver, but the UPI payment got stuck or failed. We are left waiting and praying for the UPI transaction to complete or resort to calling a friend to pay in cash.

But why do UPI payments get stuck? There are many reasons that can lead to payment failure during UPI transactions. For example, a UPI transfer will fail if you have entered the wrong UPI ID, the receiver's address is not correct, bank servers are down, or if your internet is not working. If you have also faced similar payment issues, here are a few tips to help you complete your payment.

Check your daily UPI payment limit

Most banks and payment gateways have limited the daily count of UPI transactions. In addition, according to NPCI guidelines, the maximum amount of money that can be transferred in one UPI transaction is Rs. 1 lakh. So if you have crossed the daily money transfer limit or have done around 10 UPI transactions, you will have to wait for 24 hours to renew your daily limit. If you are in the middle of a payment, try to make payment from a different bank account or payment method.

Link more than one bank account with your UPI ID

One of the most common reasons for UPI failures or payments getting stuck is busy bank servers. So to avoid that, it is better to link more than 1 bank account to your UPI ID. So, in case one of your bank's servers is down, you can initiate payments through your other bank account.

Check receiver details

It is strictly advised to check the bank account number and IFSC code of the receiver’s bank while sending the money. The user can also face a failed transaction if the sender has filled in the wrong IFSC code or account number while sending the money.

Enter the correct UPI PIN

We have so many passwords to remember: phone password, ATM PIN, emails, and more. So it is possible that you end up forgetting your UPI PIN. If you have forgotten your UPI PIN, you can reset it by tapping on "Forget UPI PIN" and following the steps to reset the confidential PIN. Additionally, if you tend to forget your PIN more often, try writing it somewhere safe. But do take caution that no one sees your PIN, or else you will end up losing your money.

Check your internet connection

Network connection is one of the top reasons why UPI payments get stuck or fail. Move around a bit to see if you get a signal, or if possible, ask the sender to turn on their hotspot so that you get a stable internet connection. You can also restart your device or turn on and off airplane mode to establish the internet connection and try again.

Try UPI Lite

As we mentioned, slow bank servers and network issues are one of the top reasons for UPI payment failures. So to help users with that, NPCI last year introduced UPI Lite. Using UPI Lite, you can initiate instant payments of up to Rs. 200. UPI Lite users can send a maximum of Rs. 2,000 twice a day, with a cumulative daily usage of up to Rs. 4,000, without the need to add a UPI PIN or be dependent on bank servers. Currently, the UPI Lite service is available on Paytm and PhonePe, and will soon be available on other payments apps.