UPI IDs with Special Characters to Be Blocked from February 1 – Here’s How to Avoid It
In an effort to enhance the security of the UPI ecosystem, which has seen significant growth in recent years, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced new guidelines for UPI transactions, effective from February 1, 2025. Under the new regulation, UPI IDs containing special characters like #, @, $, or * will be blacklisted. Users must update their UPI IDs to remove these characters to comply with the new rules.
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As per a circular issued on January 9, the NPCI has advised UPI players to use only alphanumeric characters for generating transaction IDs, ensuring alignment with UPI’s technical specifications.
“Due to the importance of adhering to specifications, it has been decided that UPI transaction IDs will not be allowed to contain any special characters. Any transaction with such an ID will be declined by the central system, effective from February 1, 2025.”
“All participating entities are advised to take note of this and ensure full compliance. Please ensure that this information is shared with all concerned parties for necessary action.”

What Are Special Characters?
Special characters refer to any symbols that are not part of the standard 26-letter alphabet or the numbers 0-9. These include punctuation marks, accent marks, and other symbols.
UPI’s Growing Share in India’s Digital Payments
The share of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India’s digital payments has skyrocketed from 34% in 2019 to an impressive 83% in 2024, reflecting a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 74% over the past five years, as per the RBI’s payment system report.
In contrast, the share of other payment systems such as RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, credit cards, and debit cards in digital payment volumes dropped from 66% to 17% during the same period, according to the report.
The report highlights that UPI has been the primary driver of digital payments growth in India, owing to its convenience and user-friendly nature.
On a macro level, the volume of UPI transactions rose from 375 crore in 2018 to 17,221 crore in 2024, while the total transaction value soared from ₹5.86 lakh crore in 2018 to ₹246.83 lakh crore in 2024.
Source: Ndtv
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