Page 19 - NIS English 16-30 September, 2026

Cover Story
UPI TURNS 10

Robust Security Measures

As the reach of UPI has expanded, equal emphasis has been placed on its security. The
government, the Reserve Bank, and the NPCI have collaboratively established risk-based
transaction limits to prevent fraud. Special security measures have been implemented to prevent
unauthorized changes to mobile numbers and the misuse of SMS-based verification. The NPCI
has also recently released comprehensive UPI information security and mobile application
security frameworks to maintain the trust of millions of users.

Secure and Transparent

Payments… The Reserve Bank's
n Under a directive issued in objective is clear: to curtail
September 2025, the Reserve unauthorized transactions
Bank has made Two-Factor by adding an extra layer
Authentication (2FA) mandatory of security and to further
for all digital payments—including strengthen public confidence
UPI, debit/credit cards, and in the digital payment system.
mobile wallets—effective April 1,
2026.

n Every transaction must now be
verified using at least two distinct
and independent methods; for
instance, any two of the following:
PIN, password, OTP, or biometric
authentication.

n This step has been taken in
response to rising incidents of
fraud such as phishing and SIM-
swapping, where OTP-based
verification alone was proving to
be insecure.

a single mobile application. There is no need to make UPI payments.
memorise card numbers or go through the hassle Prime Minister Narendra Modi often expresses
of typing out account numbers and IFSC codes. pride in the fact that India alone accounts for
With just a virtual address or a QR code, money nearly half of the world’s total real-time digital
transfers from one account to another in the blink payments made via UPI. In his words, this is not
of an eye. Moreover, UPI is now being used in the merely a technological achievement but a symbol
country even without an internet connection; with of the nation’s capability and self-reliance.
‘UPI 123PAY’, a smartphone is not required to Over the past decade, the Unified Payments

Sep 16-30, 2026 || NEW INDIA SAMACHAR 17