Apple has added the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Autopay as a new payment option for subscription-based purchases in India to its App Store. Users can set up automated payment options for recurring payments through UPI Autopay using any UPI app that supports the feature.
The news broke when Apple emailed its Indian customers to inform them of the new feature.
The new development comes nearly a year after Apple added UPI and net banking as payment options to its App Store for Indian users. This came shortly after the Cupertino-based company stopped accepting Indian debit and credit cards for subscription and app purchase payments on its App store.
UPI Autopay was launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2020 to enable payments for recurring payments such as mobile bills, electricity bills, EMI payments, OTT subscriptions, and others.
The shift to UPI Autopay is largely due to a slew of guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the last four years that sought to crack down on recurring payments without users’ explicit consent, as well as to ensure the safety and security of card transactions.