Google Play Store now supports UPI Autopayment for app subscription fees in India

Thanks to the advent of Unified Payment Interface-based apps, digital cash transaction has grown manifold, particularly in India. As per the latest report, the National Payments Corporation of India developed UPI reported a record high of 730 crore transactions worth 12.11 lakh crore value in October alone.

India tops the world in terms of highest digital transactions, beating China and US by miles, and is expected to see a steady upward trajectory in foreseeable future too.

Google and Apple too, allow users to make UPI-based in-app transactions on their respective platforms. The latter recently even introduced a special UPI-based account for users to make autopay subscription services. Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced new directives on the safety and security of card transactions in the country.

It was made mandatory for banks to send an OTP (One Time Password) to customers for recurring payments on bills above Rs 5,000. This covered all types of services including currency recharge on phones, Direct To Home cable bills, Over The Top (OTT) subscription fees, and utility bills like electricity and water, which used to get auto-debited monthly (and some annually) from a user's bank account.

Google Play Store now accepts UPI-based AutoPay. Credit: Google

Now, Google has introduced a similar convenience, offering the option to users to make subscription-based purchases by introducing UPI Autopay on Google Play in India.

"Introduced under UPI 2.0 by NPCI, UPI Autopay helps people make recurring payments using any UPI application that supports the feature. With this launch, we aim to help many more people access helpful and delightful subscription-based services – while enabling local developers to grow their subscription-based businesses on Google Play," said Saurabh Agarwal, Head of Google Play (Retail & Payments Activation - India, Vietnam, Australia & New Zealand).

To enable UPI Autopay on your Android phone, open an OTT or any supported app, then select a subscription plan for purchase, simply tap on the payment method in the cart, select “Pay with UPI”, and then approve the purchase in your supported UPI app.

Also read | Apple stops accepting payments through credit cards issued by Indian banks

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