State Bank of India has announced that its UPI services will be temporarily unavailable for 45 minutes on September 4, 2026, from 12:15 am to 1:00 am. According to reports from The Economic Times and Mint, the maintenance activity may be completed before the scheduled time, but customers should plan accordingly. During this maintenance window, UPI services will be completely unavailable for all transactions, including digital payments and money transfers. The country's largest lender confirmed the maintenance through a post on social media platform X, ensuring customers are well-informed about the upcoming service disruption. In a recent post on X, SBI advised customers to use UPI Lite services if they require uninterrupted UPI transactions during the maintenance period.
Despite the UPI outage, SBI customers can continue using UPI Lite services during the maintenance period for uninterrupted transactions. As reported by The Economic Times and Mint, UPI Lite offers small value transactions up to ₹1,000 without requiring UPI PIN, with a maximum UPI Lite balance of ₹5,000. Customers can activate UPI Lite through the BHIM SBI Pay application by selecting the UPI Lite section, adding funds, and following the prompt to load the balance. The service allows users to make payments of up to ₹1,000 without entering their UPI PIN for each transaction, ensuring customers can still access basic digital payment functionality during the scheduled downtime. The bank has clarified that UPI Lite will continue to be available throughout the maintenance period.
SBI has implemented specific UPI transaction limits for its customers. According to the bank's guidelines, customers can make 20 Person-to-Person (P2P) transactions per day, with a ₹1,00,000 daily transaction value limit for both P2P and Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions. Enhanced transaction limits are available for select verified merchants, including ₹2,00,000 for insurance and capital markets, and ₹5,00,000 for IPO transactions, tax payments, and educational institutions. The bank has clarified that P2M transactions will be subject to the per-day limit on UPI transaction value, ensuring proper transaction management during the maintenance period. Customers can use UPI Lite for smaller transactions during the maintenance window, allowing them to make payments up to ₹1,000 without needing a PIN.
UPI Lite is designed for small-value transactions and allows users to make payments of up to ₹1,000 without entering their UPI PIN for each transaction. The maximum balance that can be maintained in UPI Lite is ₹5,000. According to Mint, the balance maintained in UPI Lite does not earn interest, and if customers change their mobile device, they must first disable their existing UPI Lite account before transferring the balance back to their bank account. Customers can disable their UPI Lite account through the available disable option, after which the funds held by the bank in the UPI Lite account will be released and transferred to the customer's bank account. All UPI-compatible platforms including Android, iOS, and feature phones are supported throughout the maintenance period.
The government is expected to introduce Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI transactions with a gazette notification likely by mid-September 2026. As reported by The Economic Times, the Department of Financial Services could issue a gazette notification, followed by a circular from the National Payments Corporation of India for implementation. The government has clarified that consumers making UPI payments will not face transaction charges, and person-to-person transactions will remain free, with MDR applying only to limited merchant transactions above certain thresholds at nominal rates. The vast majority of UPI transactions will continue to remain free for merchants, while the exact MDR rate, transaction threshold and other details of the framework have not yet been formally notified.
Over the past decade, UPI has demonstrated remarkable growth in transaction volumes and values. According to government data reported by The Economic Times, annual transaction volume expanded from 2 crore transactions in FY 2016-17 to over 24,162 crore transactions in FY 2025-26, representing an almost 12,000-fold surge. Transaction value similarly increased from ₹0.07 lakh crore in FY 2016-17 to approximately ₹314 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, translating into a more than 4,000-fold increase in transaction value. The government has described the legal change as an enabling provision aimed at supporting UPI's long-term sustainability, technological advancement and resilience against emerging risks.
