Top News

State Bank of India (SBI) has issued an alert for customers who regularly use its UPI services. The bank said UPI payments will be temporarily unavailable on September 4, 2026, due to scheduled maintenance.

The disruption will last for around 45 minutes. However, customers will still be able to make smaller payments using UPI Lite during this period.

SBI UPI Services To Remain Unavailable From 12:15 AM

According to SBI, UPI services will not be available from 12:15 AM to 1 AM on September 4, 2026. The bank said the maintenance-related disruption could end earlier if the work is completed ahead of schedule.

Customers who rely on SBI's UPI services for regular payments should therefore take note of the specified window.

UPI Lite To Remain Available

While regular UPI services will be unavailable, SBI said customers can use UPI Lite for smaller transactions during the maintenance period.

UPI Lite allows transactions of up to Rs 1,000 without requiring users to enter their UPI PIN for every payment. Customers can maintain a maximum balance of Rs 5,000 in UPI Lite.

What Is SBI's UPI Transaction Limit?

SBI allows customers to transact up to Rs 1 lakh through UPI in a single day.

For person-to-person (P2P) payments, the limit is 20 transactions per day. Certain verified merchant categories have higher transaction limits.

The limit is up to Rs 2 lakh for insurance and capital market transactions. For IPOs, tax payments, hospitals, schools and colleges, the limit is up to Rs 5 lakh.

MDR On UPI Payments: What We Know

The government is preparing to introduce Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on select UPI merchant transactions. A notification on the matter is expected by mid-September.

However, the MDR rate, transaction limits and other related rules have not yet been officially finalised.

The government has clarified that the public will not be charged any fees for making UPI payments. P2P transactions will also continue to remain free.

If MDR is introduced, it will apply only to certain merchant transactions. At present, MDR is not charged on UPI transactions.

UPI Usage Has Grown Rapidly

UPI has transformed digital payments over the past few years, with transaction volumes rising sharply.

There were approximately 20 million UPI transactions in FY 2016-17. By FY 2025-26, the number had risen to more than 24,162 crore transactions.

The total value of UPI transactions also increased during this period, rising from Rs 0.07 lakh crore to approximately Rs 314 lakh crore.