How do people in India pay online?
UPI is the default. The Reserve Bank of India’s Annual Report 2025-26 says UPI contributed nearly 86% of total retail payment transactions in the year. UPI handled 241.6 billion transactions worth INR 314.2 lakh crore in 2025-26, up 30% in volume and 20.6% in value. The shopper approves each payment in a UPI app on their phone. The Finance Ministry’s 2025 year-end review notes that UPI now also supports payments from RuPay credit cards.
Cards come second. RBI data show 7.3 billion card payments worth INR 28.1 lakh crore in 2025-26, of which 6.0 billion were on credit cards and 1.3 billion on debit cards. RuPay is India’s domestic card scheme and is accepted alongside Visa and Mastercard.
Wallets and bank payments complete the mix. Prepaid payment instruments, such as mobile wallets, handled 9.9 billion transactions worth INR 2.9 lakh crore in 2025-26. Apple Pay and Google Pay both list India as a supported country.
What rules shape online payments in India?
Every digital payment needs two factors. The RBI’s Authentication Mechanisms for Digital Payment Transactions Directions, issued on 25 September 2025, apply from 1 April 2026. Two-factor authentication is the minimum, SMS one-time passwords remain valid, and issuers may add checks based on risk. Issuers must also validate the additional factor on non-recurring cross-border card-not-present payments when the overseas merchant or acquirer asks for it.
Recurring payments run on e-mandates. After a one-time registration with an additional factor, recurring card, wallet and UPI payments up to INR 15,000 can be debited without it. The RBI’s consolidated directions of 21 April 2026 keep that limit, apply the additional factor to the first payment of every mandate, and set a higher limit of INR 1 lakh for insurance premiums, mutual fund subscriptions and credit card bills.
Merchants may not store card numbers. Since 1 October 2022, only card issuers and card networks may keep actual card data, so saved cards work through tokens.
Cross-border collections go through licensed aggregators. Under the RBI’s Master Direction on Regulation of Payment Aggregators of 15 September 2025, entities that collect payments from Indian buyers for imports are regulated by the RBI, must carry out due diligence on overseas merchants, and may process up to INR 25 lakh per transaction.
Tax and consumer rules apply to foreign sellers. A foreign supplier of online information and database access or retrieval services to consumers in India is liable to pay integrated GST on those sales. GST mainly uses two slabs, 5% and 18%, with 18% as the general rate. The equalisation levy on non-resident e-commerce operators ended on 1 August 2024. The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 also cover sellers outside India that systematically offer goods or services to Indian consumers: they must appoint a grievance officer who acknowledges complaints within 48 hours, must not use pre-ticked consent boxes, and must pay accepted refunds within the time set by the RBI or other law. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, notified on 14 November 2025, phase in over 18 months and require clear consent notices and breach notices to affected people.
How would Omno route payments in India?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In India:
- UPI pay-ins would go to a provider that supports UPI, with the hosted checkout handing the shopper to their UPI app and the order pending until the shopper approves in their app.
- Card pay-ins would follow rules by BIN, scheme and amount, with tokenised saved cards and cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Cross-border sales would route to providers authorised as cross-border payment aggregators, with currency set per customer group.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for UPI first. It carries most retail payments, and Indian shoppers expect to pay from the UPI app they already use.
Plan for RuPay next to Visa and Mastercard. Credit cards make up most card payments by number, and RuPay credit cards can now pay through UPI.
Plan for authentication and tokens. Every card payment needs an additional factor, saved cards must be tokenised, and subscriptions need e-mandates with the INR 15,000 limit in mind.
Plan for GST and grievance handling. Check whether your digital services fall under GST for foreign suppliers, and name a grievance officer who answers complaints within 48 hours.