15 hours Ago
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) suffered a outage on Saturday, April 12, disrupting digital payments for users across India. By noon, complaints on Downdetector had crossed 2,000, with payment failures and fund transfer issues dominating the list. India’s most widely used digital payment system has now seen two significant disruptions in less than a month.
Frustrated users flooded social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where #UPIDown quickly began trending. Many posted memes to vent their frustration—and the humour was top tier. One user posted a GIF of Alia Bhatt in Raazi tearfully saying, “Mujhe apne ghar jaana hai,” captioned: “What the hell is wrong with UPI? Been stuck at the shop for an hour.
Someone bring cash!” What the hell is wrong with UPI? 1 ghante se dukan pe baitha hu payment karne ke liye???? Koi cash leke aao bc #UPIDown pic.twitter.com/vvotQSjrB3 — Suyash Mehta (@boi_pahadi) April 12, 2025 Another declared, “UPI is down and my world already crashed.
Stood in two shops without cash!” Meanwhile, a Mirzapur -themed meme captured the awkward stare-off between a customer and a shopkeeper mid-transaction. A user shared a picture from Pankaj Tripathi's hit series Mirzapur, in which he is seen giving an intense expression. "The shopkeeper is looking at me while I am trying to pay via UPI," it read.
The shopkeeper is looking at me while I am trying to pay via UPI #UPIDown pic.twitter.com/gWIMGkwkWo — Vishal (@VishalMalvi_) April 12, 2025 Another X user shared the picture of a smirking dog along with an image of a Paytm soundbox with an overlay text, "Jab tak isme se aawaj nahi aa jati tab tak jane nahi dunga.
" "Aaj fir bartan dhone padenge," read the caption. Aaj fir bartan dhone padenge ???? #UPIDown pic.twitter.
com/sfuN1L7xDq — Desi Bhayo (@desi_bhayo88) April 12, 2025 "Bhai Cash nahi hai, #upidown hai, Kha bhi liya hai dukaan se," said another. Bhai Cash nahi hai, #upidown hai, Kha bhi liya hai dukaan se???????????????? pic.twitter.
com/aRKRFLKUS6 — Baandya (@Bahut_Scope_Hai) April 12, 2025 A user shared a GIF video of comedian Puneet Superstar showcasing his distinct emotions, all at the same time. "Just finished lunch like a boss but when I tried paying via UPI—boom! Server down. Now I’m just sitting in hotel like a wanted criminal full stomach but cooked RIP to me!" read a post on X.
Just finished lunch like a boss but when I tried paying via UPI—boom! Server down. Now I’m just sitting in hotel like a wanted criminal full stomach but cooked RIP to me! ???? #upidown #UPI #phonepe #gpay #npci pic.twitter.
com/BVAPHIdJ3Z — ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? (@nisar_ahemad45) April 12, 2025 Another user posted a video of Nana Patekar while cooking and cleaning and wrote, "me at a restaurant after upi down." me at a restaurant after upi down ???? #upidown pic.twitter.
com/s1qF9aysBv — Ministry Of Sarcasm (@M_OfSarcasm) April 12, 2025 The disruption began around 11:26 AM and peaked by 11:41 AM, with over 222 users reporting issues on DownDetector, a platform that tracks real-time outages. According to reports, by midday, complaints had surged to 1,200 — including 96 related to Google Pay and 23 linked to Paytm. Also read: UPI outage disrupts payments again; users face issues on PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm This incident marks the sixth major UPI outage in the past year.
The most severe disruption occurred on 26 March, when technical glitches brought UPI services to a standstill for nearly three hours, affecting both consumers and merchants nationwide. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which oversees UPI network, described this problem as an "intermittent technical issue.".
