Noida, Apr 1 (APAC News): Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services on Wednesday left thousands of users struggling to complete digital payments, with customers of State Bank of India (SBI) and UCO Bank reporting widespread transaction failures and server timeouts.
Outage tracking service Down detector reported a surge in complaints late Wednesday morning and early afternoon, with over 500 issues linked to SBI and around 40 to UCO Bank, suggesting the disruption spanned multiple regions. Many customers took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to report failed UPI payments while using apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, and BHIM.
“SBI confirmed the disruption, attributing it to a scheduled maintenance window that started late Wednesday morning and was subsequently extended. The bank cautioned that services including UPI, IMPS, internet banking, NEFT, and RTGS could experience temporary interruptions during this period. Customers were advised to use alternative channels, such as UPI Lite and ATMs, until normal operations resume. ” In an official statement.
“Occasional outages are expected during system upgrades or scheduled maintenance, but timely communication is crucial to minimise disruption for users who rely on UPI for daily transactions,” said industry analysts.
The users expressed frustration at the timing of the outage during peak digital payment hours, with many reporting unsuccessful money transfers and repeated error messages. While some customers were eventually able to complete transactions after multiple retries, others said the interruptions caused delays in urgent payments.
