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India has lifted restrictions on WhatsApp’s payments service in a significant win for Meta in its biggest market by users as it seeks to compete with its entrenched fintech rivals.
National Payments Corporation of India, the payments body that oversees the popular UPI payment rail, said on Tuesday that WhatsApp can now roll out WhatsApp Pay to all its users in India. WhatsApp has more than 500 million users in India.
The decision is annulled Previous 100 million user limit on WhatsApp Pay. The move signals a shift in the regulator’s cautious approach to WhatsApp’s payments ambitions.
NPCI, which reports to India’s central bank, had previously insisted on a gradual rollout of the service, before capping it at 40 million users in 2020, expanding to 100 million in 2022.
WhatsApp’s expansion comes as India’s UPI platform, which processes more than 13 billion monthly transactions, grapples with market concentration concerns. Backed by Google Pay and Walmart, PhonePe currently controls over 85% of UPI transactions.
Tuesday, NPCI once again pushed back on a proposal to impose a 30% cap on the transaction share of any individual application on the UPI network. NPCI said the rule will no longer come into effect until December 31, 2026.
“We are committed to making payments on WhatsApp simple, secure and safe,” said a WhatsApp spokesperson.
“Our goal is to add value and convenience to users’ lives through various use cases such as bill payments, ticket booking 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.
