The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages Unified Payment Interface (UPI), has decided to allow Facebook backed messaging service WhatsApp to go live on UPI in the multi-bank model. WhatsApp can expand its UPI user base in a graded manner starting with a maximum registered user base of 20 million in UPI, NPCI said in a statement today.
Though the condition of 20 million will be a dampener, it is some relief for WhatsApp, which began its pilot run two years ago, while it awaited regulatory clearances to launch its UPI-based payments for its 400 million users in India.
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