Paytm is rebuilding itself as a TPAP after being sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India for regulatory reasons. The payments app is migrating users to new UPI handles, as it cannot use its in-house @paytm virtual payments address for UPI services. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has also officially granted Paytm TPAP status, allowing it to shift users to new UPI handles.
Paytm’s New UPI Handles: How does it affect you?
Paytm has partnered with four banks, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and Yes Bank, to continue serving its users with UPI services. Before the RBI crisis, Paytm users would have a UPI address ending with ‘@paytm’ even if they had linked an external bank account in the app.
Paytm will now migrate users to new UPI handles ending with @ptsbi, @ptyes, @pthdfc, and @ptaxis. In most cases, users can keep their unique UPI username. For example, if your Paytm UPI address was chinmay@paytm, you will be shifted to chinmay@ptsbi or any of the four UPI handles mentioned above.
This is an automatic process, and users are not required to take additional steps. Paytm users can continue using the app for regular merchant UPI payments, sending money to contacts, and all other UPI services.
Other functions of the Paytm app like bill payments, recharges, LPG cylinder bookings, movie tickets, etc., remain unaffected. Users can pay for these services by linking an external bank account in the Paytm app. However, the Paytm Payments Bank and Paytm wallet are still blocked.
Important Things to Check After Getting The New Paytm UPI Handle
Although Paytm says it will ensure a seamless transition of UPI handles for its users, there are certain important things to consider. If you had any active UPI mandate with your @paytm UPI address, there is a slight possibility that the mandate may fail, depending on the merchant. Hence, checking your UPI mandates that use the old Paytm VPA is recommended.
Note that the QR code of your Paytm UPI profile will also change after getting a new UPI handle. So, if you have a sticker with the old QR code or have mentioned your UPI address in any place where you want to accept payments, you must immediately get it updated.
Once you get a new UPI handle, your old @paytm VPA will stop working. If any user tries to pay using your old UPI handle, they will NOT be redirected to the new UPI handle, and the transaction will fail.
For this reason, millions of merchants across India that use Paytm’s QR codes and soundboxes to accept payments are also required to get new stickers. According to our earlier report, in which we spoke to Paytm QR merchant users, the company is assisting merchants.
