Indian Crypto Exchanges Disable UPI and Other Payment Options – Rupee deposits are being disabled by a number of cryptocurrency exchanges in India, notably those that use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. This came after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) published a statement regarding crypto exchanges’ use of the UPI system.
The number of Indian rupees that can be deposited at bitcoin exchanges is diminishing. The Unified Payments Interface system, which is the most extensively used retail payment mechanism, has been deactivated by a rising number of bitcoin exchanges.
Wazirx, a cryptocurrency exchange, does not support UPI. “On Wednesday, the exchange tweeted, “Currently, Unified Payments Interface is not available.” Coindcx is also refusing to accept UPI payments, stating on Twitter on Monday that “UPI is temporarily unavailable.”
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Coinswitch Kuber apparently went even further on Wednesday, halting all INR deposit services, including UPI and bank transfers via RTGS, NEFT, and IMPS. With over 15 million members, Coinswitch is India’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform.
Coinbase, a Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange that recently launched in India, has stopped crypto purchases “due to an ongoing difficulty we’re encountering with the UPI system,” according to the company. “Note that we do not support another payment method to buy crypto at this moment,” the exchange added.
After the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) stated that it is not aware of any cryptocurrency exchanges using the UPI system, cryptocurrency exchanges quit supporting UPI payments. Following Coinbase’s opening in India and advertising that consumers could quickly deposit funds through UPI to buy cryptocurrency, the NPCI issued a statement.
When Coinbase claimed to begin with UPI support, the NPCI was placed between a rock and a hard place, according to a source familiar with the situation. “When Coinbase launched in India and announced the use of UPI as a payment option, NPCI realized it had to issue a clarification,” the source explained.
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Mobikwik, a popular payment service, also ceased serving crypto exchanges earlier this month.
Meanwhile, after a 30% tax on crypto revenue went into effect on April 1 without providing loss offsets or deductions, crypto trade volumes in India have been dropping. On July 1, another harmful tax, a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS), will be imposed on cryptocurrency transactions.