India delays UPI payments market share cap in relief for Walmart-backed PhonePe, Google Pay
India on Tuesday delayed the implementation of market share caps for a popular digital payments method by two years, a move that will benefit Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe. According to the proposal, first made in November 2020, digital payment firms would not be allowed to hold more than 30% share of the volume of transactions processed via India's popular unified payments interface (UPI). The mandate, which was to take effect from the end of 2024, will now kick in at the end of December 2026, according to a statement from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a quasi-regulator.