New Delhi, Oct. 8 -- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has phased out a major feature of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) that has long made peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions both convenient and risky. From 1 October, the "collect request" option for P2P transactions has been withdrawn. This is a decisive step to combat a surge in financial fraud within India's digital payments ecosystem.

UPI has revolutionized the way Indians transfer money, making payments instant, secure and cashless. Yet, the "collect request" or "pull transaction" option, which would let a UPI user request money from another user, proved to be a double-edged sword.

Unlike conventional 'push' transactions, where the payer initiates and authorizes a...