India’s digital payments sector is going through another important change. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has extended the deadline for the proposed 30% market share cap for UPI apps until December 31, 2026.
The decision gives major relief to leading payment apps like PhonePe and Google Pay, which still dominate the UPI market. At the same time, the latest June 2026 data shows that smaller players are slowly growing. One of the biggest highlights is that WhatsApp Pay has crossed CRED in transaction volume for the first time.
NPCI Gives UPI Apps More Time to Meet Market Share Rules
NPCI first announced the idea of a 30% market share limit for UPI apps in November 2020. The aim was to stop a few companies from controlling most of the UPI market and to encourage more competition.
The rule was originally supposed to be implemented within two years. However, payment companies said that limiting the growth of successful apps could slow down India’s fast-growing digital payments ecosystem. Because of these concerns, the deadline has been extended more than once. It has now been pushed to December 31, 2026.
Experts believe that India’s UPI network still has huge growth potential. They feel that allowing leading apps to continue growing will help more people adopt digital payments instead of slowing the system down.
Another reason for the extension is the action taken against Paytm Payments Bank earlier this year. Since Paytm is one of the biggest UPI players, bringing in the market share limit now could have made the situation more complicated. Many industry experts believe that competition will improve naturally over the next few years without strict restrictions.
PhonePe Stays on Top While WhatsApp Pay Moves Ahead of CRED
PhonePe remained India’s largest UPI app in June 2026. It processed 10.48 billion transactions worth ₹14.19 lakh crore, giving it 46.15% market share by transaction volume and 49.07% by transaction value.
Google Pay continued to hold the second position with 7.41 billion transactions worth ₹9.67 lakh crore, accounting for 32.61% of the total transaction volume.
Paytm stayed in third place by processing 1.80 billion transactions worth ₹1.93 lakh crore.
Overall, the UPI network handled 22.72 billion transactions worth ₹28.92 lakh crore during June. Although this was slightly lower than May, it still shows the massive scale of digital payments in India.
Smaller UPI apps are also making steady progress. Navi processed more than 842 million transactions, while Flipkart-backed super.money crossed 430 million transactions. BHIM handled over 223 million transactions, and its market share has grown several times over the last two years. FamApp and Axis Bank’s UPI apps also recorded healthy transaction numbers.
One of the biggest developments in June was WhatsApp Pay overtaking CRED in transaction volume. WhatsApp Pay processed 150.48 million transactions, slightly ahead of CRED’s 141.78 million transactions.
However, CRED continued to lead in transaction value. It processed payments worth ₹55,117 crore, while WhatsApp Pay handled ₹11,392 crore. This shows that CRED users usually make higher-value transactions.
WhatsApp Pay’s strong growth came after NPCI removed its earlier limit on user onboarding, allowing the company to expand its payment service to a much larger number of users across India.
UPI Checkout Proposal and PhonePe’s IPO Plans
NPCI is also working on a new feature called UPI Meta, also known as UPI Checkout.
The feature will allow users to save their preferred UPI ID on shopping apps and websites. The next time they make a payment, they can go directly to PIN or biometric verification without selecting their UPI app again.
While this could make online payments faster, many smaller payment apps have raised concerns. They believe most users will save PhonePe or Google Pay as their default option, making it even harder for smaller apps to compete. Some companies are also worried that users may not see other payment options like UPI Lite or Credit Lines on UPI during checkout.
On the other hand, supporters say the feature can improve the payment experience and help UPI compete better with other digital payment methods.
The extension of the market share deadline has also given PhonePe more clarity about its upcoming stock market listing. Earlier, the uncertainty around the market cap rule had created challenges for the company’s IPO plans.
PhonePe has already received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and is preparing to file its Updated Draft Red Herring Prospectus (UDRHP). The IPO is expected to be an Offer For Sale (OFS) by existing shareholders.
The company is entering the public market with strong financial performance. In FY25, PhonePe reported ₹7,115 crore in revenue, a 40% increase compared to the previous year. It also generated ₹1,202 crore in operating cash flow and reported an adjusted profit after tax of ₹630 crore.
With India’s digital payments market continuing to grow rapidly, the extra time given by NPCI offers relief to the biggest UPI apps while also giving smaller players more time to expand. The coming months will show whether competition grows naturally or whether stricter market share rules will eventually be needed.