If you make daily payments using UPI, this news is extremely important for you. The State Bank of India (SBI)'s UPI service will be temporarily down on the night of September 4th. If you have an urgent payment to make at that time, it's best to complete it in advance.

According to the bank, normal UPI services will be affected for approximately 45 minutes due to system maintenance. However, the bank has provided relief for smaller payments, allowing you to use UPI Lite during this time, ensuring your digital payments are not completely disrupted.

Now the biggest question is when will SBI's UPI service be down, and what should customers do during this time? According to information provided by the bank, no regular UPI payments will be possible from 12:15 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. on September 4th. Therefore, if you plan to make a large or important transaction late at night, be especially mindful of the timing.

How long will the service remain closed?

SBI's UPI service will be unavailable from 12:15 AM to 1:00 AM on September 4, 2026. Sending or receiving money through standard UPI apps will not be possible during this time. However, the bank has clarified that the maintenance work can be completed ahead of schedule. However, it would be wise to complete your important transactions in advance to avoid any inconvenience.

Use UPI Lite for small payments

You can use the UPI Lite service to handle small transactions during the maintenance window. The biggest advantage of UPI Lite is that it eliminates the hassle of entering a PIN for each transaction, making transactions much faster. A maximum of ₹1,000 can be paid at a time using UPI Lite, while a total wallet balance of up to ₹5,000 can be maintained. This service can prove to be very useful for small groceries, tea, or other daily expenses.

How much can you pay through UPI?

According to general UPI rules, a user can transact up to ₹1 lakh in a day. Person-to-person (P2P) transfers are limited to a maximum of 20 transactions per day. However, this limit is significantly higher for certain categories. For example, the daily limit for insurance and capital market-related payments is ₹2 lakh. For payments such as IPOs, taxes, hospital and school/college fees, this limit is increased to ₹5 lakh.

What is the update regarding MDR charges on UPI?

Another major change related to UPI may be seen in the coming times. The government is considering implementing MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) on select merchant transactions. An official notification in this regard is expected by mid-September. However, it has not yet been decided what the MDR rates will be and which transactions they will apply to. The relief for ordinary customers is that simple UPI payments and person-to-person (P2P) transfers will remain completely free.

The use of UPI in India has seen unprecedented growth over the past few years. From just around 20 million transactions in FY 2016-17, this figure is projected to exceed 24,162 crore by FY 2025-26. Furthermore, the total transaction volume has also seen a significant jump; starting from ₹0.07 lakh crore in 2016-17, it is projected to reach approximately ₹314 lakh crore by 2025-26.

Changes related to ATM transactions

Recently, SBI has decided to reduce the limit on free transactions available to salary package account holders at other banks' ATMs. This new rule will become effective from October 1, 2026. Once implemented, customers will only be able to make five free transactions per month at other banks' ATMs and ADWM machines. This limit of five free transactions will not only include cash withdrawals but also other non-financial services such as balance checks.

PC: India TV News