From UPI Rules To Trading Hours: Key Financial Changes From August 1

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is set to implement a set of changes to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) from August 1, 2025, in order to make the interface stable and efficient. Besides UPI, some other financial changes are also scheduled.

UPI Transaction Rules

NPCI releases a circular in April to inform the users that it has planned some changes to reduce the response time of UPI transactions. The adjustments are aimed at helping remitter banks, beneficiary banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs), such as PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.

Here are the key UPI changes:

Balance Check Limit: 50 balance checks per day per UPI app. If the user has more than one UPI app, they can check their balance 50 times on each app, but users are advised not to check their balance during peak hours.

Auto-Pay Transactions: Will only be processed during non-peak hours (before 10:00 am, between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm, and after 9:30 pm).

Transaction Status Checks: Limited to 3 times with a minimum gap of 90 seconds.

Linked Account Checks: Limited to 25 times per day per app.

Beneficiary Name Display: The recipient's registered bank name will be visible before confirming payment, reducing errors and fraud.

SBI Credit Card Rules

The State Bank of India announced that it will discontinue the free air accident insurance cover available on many co-branded cards.

The bank notified that complimentary air accident insurance coverage of Rs 1 Cr currently offered on your UCO Bank SBI Card ELITE, Central Bank of India SBI Card ELITE, PSB SBI Card ELITE, KVB SBI Card ELITE, KVB SBI Signature Card, and Allahabad Bank SBI Card ELITE will be discontinued.

Also the complimentary air accident insurance coverage of Rs 50 Lakh currently offered on your UCO Bank SBI Card PRIME, Central Bank of India SBI Card PRIME, PSB SBI Card PRIME, KVB SBI Card PRIME, Karur Vysya Bank SBI Platinum Credit Card, South Indian Bank SBI Card PRIME, South Indian Bank SBI Platinum Credit Card, Karnataka Bank SBI Card PRIME, Karnataka Bank SBI Platinum Credit Card, City Union Bank SBI Card PRIME, Allahabad Bank SBI Card PRIME, UBI SBI PLATINUM Credit Card, OBC SBI VISA PLATINUM Card, Federal Bank SBI Platinum Credit Card, BOM SBI PLATINUM Credit Card will be discontinued.

Will LPG And CNG Prices Change?

It is expected that the prices of LPG cylinders, along with CNG, PNG, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, would change on August 1, 2025. The prices are reviewed every month and revised if the authorities find it necessary.

Extension Of Trading Hours

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced an extension in the trading hours of the call money, market repo and Tri-Party Repo (TREPs) markets effective July 1, 2025, to be effected in two phases.

It stated that from July 1, 2025, the call money market shall remain open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. Meanwhile, the trading hours for market repo and TREPs will be extended to 4:00 pm, effective from August 1, 2025. The new timings are from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting

Repo Rate Decision: The RBI MPC meeting will be held from August 4-6, 2025, to discuss and announce changes to the repo rate, which may impact lending and deposit rates.