NPCI To Block All UPI Transactions Of INR 50 And Less For All Gaming Merchants

According to Outlook, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is planning to block all UPI transactions of INR 50 and less for all gaming merchants even though there is no timeline set as of now.

"This is to inform you all that (National Payments Corporation of India) NPCI will block all UPI transactions of INR 50 and less for all gaming merchants. The timeline for the same is unknown yet but from some resources we have heard that it might be done in next 24 hrs. We request you to be prepared with this and let us know if Paytm can help you in anyway,” Outlook reported an internal message shared by the NPCI.

Companies like Dream11, MPL and My11Circle spend a huge amount of money during events like IPL to bolster their user base for which UPI has seen a huge jump in fantasy players using the platform to deposit in the wallet account. During the ongoing IPL, NPCI has seen an "unusual" growth in the number of transactions people are making.

There is a huge grey area when it comes to fantasy sports in India. While operators and promoters see this as a game of skill, the law doesn’t define it clearly, for which there are a lot of cases pending in the Supreme Court with a large section asking the government to ban online gaming.

"If the minimum amount becomes Rs 50, then there will be a fall in the number of players/transactions," said an industry source, adding how it will impact business is still not clear.