SBI customers who regularly use UPI should take note of an important update.
State Bank of India (SBI) has announced that its UPI services will be temporarily unavailable for 45 minutes on September 4, 2026, due to scheduled maintenance.
The service interruption will take place from 12:15 AM to 1:00 AM.
However, SBI said the maintenance work could be completed earlier than the scheduled time.
During the maintenance window, customers will not be able to use regular UPI services for digital payments and money transfers.
There is some relief, though.
UPI Lite will continue to work during this period, allowing customers to make small-value transactions without using a UPI PIN.
If you have an important payment to make around midnight, it may be better to complete it before the maintenance begins.
Check SBI UPI Transaction Limits
SBI has set different limits for UPI transactions depending on the type of payment.
Here are the key limits:
P2P transactions: Up to 20 transactions per day
Overall UPI transaction limit: Rs 1,00,000 per day
UPI Lite transaction: Up to Rs 1,000 per transaction
Maximum UPI Lite balance: Rs 5,000
Insurance and capital market transactions: Up to Rs 2,00,000
IPO (ASBA), Retail Direct Scheme, tax payments, hospitals and educational institutions: Up to Rs 5,00,000
India-Singapore UPI remittances: Up to the equivalent of 1,000 SGD
UPI services are supported across compatible Android, iOS and feature-phone platforms.
UPI Charges Could Change for Some Merchants
Another major development could be coming for UPI.
The government is considering introducing a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on certain UPI merchant transactions.
A gazette notification is reportedly expected by mid-September, although the exact MDR rate, transaction threshold and other details have not yet been officially announced.
For ordinary users, there is an important point to remember.
Consumers will not be charged for making UPI payments. Person-to-person UPI transactions will also remain free.
If MDR is introduced, it is expected to apply only to a limited category of merchant transactions above a specified threshold.
UPI Has Grown Rapidly in India
UPI has become one of India’s most widely used digital payment systems.
The scale of its growth has been remarkable.
Annual UPI transactions increased from just 2 crore in FY 2016-17 to more than 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26.
That represents an almost 12,000-fold increase in transaction volume.
The value of transactions has also jumped sharply, rising from around Rs 0.07 lakh crore to approximately Rs 314 lakh crore over the same period.
The government has said that any future changes to UPI charges are aimed at supporting the payment system’s long-term sustainability, technology upgrades and resilience.
For customers, however, the key message remains simple: UPI payments are expected to remain free for citizens.
