Indian Crypto Exchanges Disable UPI, Other Payment Options

Indian Crypto Exchanges Disable UPI, Other Payment Options

 

A number of cryptocurrency exchanges in India are disabling rupee deposits, particularly payments using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. The fallout is a consequence of a statement issued by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) regarding the usage of the UPI payment gateway by the crypto exchanges.

Indian exchanges have stopped offering major payment options after the NCPI clarified that it was not aware of any crypto exchanges using the UPI system. The options for depositing Indian rupees at cryptocurrency exchanges are dwindling. A growing number of cryptocurrency exchanges have disabled INR deposits using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. It is noteworthy that this is the most widely used retail payment method in India.

Popular crypto exchange Wazirx is not offering UPI support. The exchange tweeted on Wednesday that "Currently, UPI is not available." Another well- known crypto exchange, Coindcx, is also not supporting payments by UPI. It said on Twitter, "UPI is temporarily unavailable."

Coinswitch Kuber went even further and reportedly suspended all INR deposit services on Wednesday, including UPI and bank transfers via NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS. Coinswitch is a major cryptocurrency trading platform in India with over 15 million users.

The Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase, which recently launched in India, has disabled crypto purchases "due to an ongoing issue we're experiencing with the UPI system." The exchange further clarified, "Note that we do not support another payment method to buy crypto at this time."

Cryptocurrency exchanges stopped supporting UPI payments after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) issued a statement saying that it is not aware of crypto exchanges using the UPI system. The NPCI statement followed Coinbase's launch in India and advertising that users could easily deposit funds using UPI to buy cryptocurrencies.

A source familiar with the issue told Forkast publication that the NPCI was caught between a rock and a hard place when Coinbase claimed to launch with UPI support. "Once the launch of Coinbase happened in India and they announced the use of UPI as a payment option, NPCI realised it needed to put a clarification out there," the source explained.

Earlier this month, popular payment service Mobikwik also stopped providing services to crypto exchanges. Meanwhile, crypto trading volumes have been plummeting in India after the 30% tax on crypto income went into effect without allowing loss offsets or deductions on April 1. On July 1, another damaging tax, a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS), will be levied on crypto transactions.