RBI Proposes One-Hour Delay For UPI Transfers

• 11 Apr 2026
• 186 Views

For many Indians, sending money instantly using UPI has become quite common. However, that speed may soon come with a temporary waiting period. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is currently looking at a proposal that could add an hour of delay to some high-value digital transfers. 

This proposal is part of the RBI's efforts to fight the growing number of online scams in the country. The idea here is simple, i.e., give users some time so they can stop a transaction if they think something isn’t right.

How Will The Proposed Delay Work?

Many people are curious about how the proposed delay will actually work. Under RBI’s proposal, the account-to-account transfers exceeding Rs. 10,000, especially those made using UPI, may not go through immediately. Instead, there could be a 1 hour waiting period before the receiver finally gets their money. 

During this waiting period, the amount will get debited from the sender’s account. However, it’ll be held back temporarily. The purpose of the buffer is to allow the sender to cancel the payment if they believe they've made a mistake or have been deceived. 

The banks will utilize this time to run background checks. If they believe a transaction looks suspicious, like sending a large amount of money to a new account, they will send an alert to the sender for payment confirmation again. If something looks unusual to the bank, they may not process the transaction without the sender’s reconfirmation. 

Why Is The Central Bank Considering This Move?

There has been a big rise in cases of digital fraud. A lot of people are tricked into approving payments themselves. The central bank is quite concerned about it. It says that transactions over Rs 10,000 make up about 45% of all fraud cases, but they account for almost 98.5% of the total money lost. This means that transactions with higher values are a big risk area. The RBI wants to add a layer of protection by adding a delay without entirely disrupting the ease that comes with online payments.

Additional Safety for Senior Citizens Aged 70 & Above

The proposal by the central bank also focuses on protecting those who are more vulnerable to frauds. The RBI has suggested an extra step for high-value transfers over Rs 50,000 for customers who are 70 or older or have a disability. A "trusted person" may need to approve these transactions.

This is meant to cut down on losses from social engineering scams, which are scams in which fraudsters convince users to transfer money themselves. Users will also be able to choose not to follow this rule, but there may be a waiting period and risk warnings before doing so.

Day-to-Day Transactions May Remain Unaffected

The central bank has tried to make sure the daily transactions take place smoothly under the proposal. It is likely that payments made to merchants, automatic debits like EMIs and subscriptions and cheque payments will fall outside the delay system. 

The users may get the option to whitelist trusted recipients. For such recipients, they will be able to make transfers without requiring to face the waiting period. 

Final Words

These are just proposals for now and not rules carved in stone. The RBI has asked the public for feedback until May 8 2026. It will look over the reviews before making a final decision. If the proposals get implemented, they could change the way digital payments work in India. Some transactions might take a little longer but they might be a lot safer.