India has lifted restrictions on WhatsApp’s payment service, a significant victory for the app in its largest market by user base as the social media giant seeks to compete with entrenched fintech rivals.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the payment authority that oversees the popular UPI instant payment system, said on Tuesday that WhatsApp can now roll out WhatsApp Pay to all its users in the market. WhatsApp has over 500 million users in India.
This decision removes the previous limit of 100 million WhatsApp Pay users. The move marks a shift in the regulator’s cautious approach to WhatsApp’s payments ambitions.
The NPCI, which reports to India’s central bank, had previously pushed for a gradual rollout, initially limiting the service to 40 million users in 2020 and then increasing the limit to 100 million in 2022.
WhatsApp’s expansion comes at a time when India’s UPI platform, which processes more than 13 billion transactions each month, is battling fears of market concentration. Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe currently control more than 85% of UPI’s transactions.
On Tuesday, the NPCI once again rejected a proposal to impose a 30% limit on the share of any single application in UPI network transactions. The NPCI said that this rule will now not come into effect for two years, until December 31, 2026.
“We are committed to making payments on WhatsApp simple, reliable and secure,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement sent to TechCrunch via the app.
“Our goal is to add value and convenience to users’ lives through a variety of use cases, such as bill payments, ticketing, and shopping. We aim to accelerate the adoption of digital payments and UPI and continue to contribute to India’s digital and financial inclusion agenda.”
