Suspension of UPI system in post offices inconveniences customers

India Post's UPI system failure in Bengaluru post offices causes inconvenience, prompting calls for digital payment solutions.

It has been a little over two months since the UPI systems at all the post offices in Bengaluru stopped working. With no announcements from India Post, those who visit the post offices have been scrambling to find cash to pay for their transactions. It has not been working at the General Post Office, either, which normally sees a lot of customers.

“It is very inconvenient because cash payment is an outdated policy, and with UPI, the exact amount can be paid in a hassle-free manner”, said Chayank, an advocate who was at the GPO. He said the officials at GPO often fail to provide change and instead request customers to carry the exact amount.

Shekhar Singh, a customer at the Whitefield post office, said, “Now when I go to the post office, I have to carry the exact amount with me while also keeping some change, just in case what I brought was not enough.”

Sham A.N. said India Post should have made more efforts to let people know that the payment system was not working. “While digital payment systems work in most government offices now, at this post office, neither is the system working nor have they mentioned anywhere that they only accept cash payments. They need to put up posters or use their digital platforms to let people know that digital payment is not working,” he said.

India Post officials said the department was in the process of moving from static QR codes (where the payer has to enter the amount) to dynamic QR codes (where the amount will automatically appear upon scanning), which is why the system is currently not working. The decision to move was taken after several complaints of static QR codes not working properly.

“The dynamic QR codes, which are integrated with State Bank of India (SBI), have been implemented in about 1.4 lakh branch post offices in rural areas through the Android mobile platform”, said S. Rajendra Kumar, Chief Post Master General (CPMG), Karnataka Circle. However, this is yet to be implemented in other departmental post offices, sub-offices, and head post offices in urban areas. “Within a few months, by around September, we will be migrating to a new IT solution, and then the dynamic QR codes will be available in all the post offices”, he added.