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Rolling out from July 2026
Learn how Autopay interoperability works, how to migrate existing mandates to Razorpay, what changes for you and the customer, and what actions are required from you as a merchant.

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Overview

Today, when you set up a UPI Autopay mandate for a customer, that mandate is tied to a specific payment gateway (provided by banks) and payment aggregator (eg. Razorpay). This means that every subsequent debit is routed to the combination of payment gateway and aggregator. If that gateway or aggregator experiences a downtime, your debit fails, and there is no fallback. You are locked in. Interoperability changes this. Under the new NPCI framework, the merchant leg of a UPI Autopay transaction is fully within your control. You, or your payment aggregator on your behalf, can route each debit attempt to whichever bank gateway is most reliable at that moment, powered by your payment aggregator, or another aggregator of your choice. If one gateway is down or underperforming, traffic can move to another automatically. Payment orchestration based on success rates is already a widely prevalent and accepted norm on one-time payments. However, on recurring payments, this was not possible within the existing infrastructure. This changes significantly with UPI Autopay Interoperability. Importantly, this change does not require any manual intervention from your customers. Previously, if you wanted to switch payment aggregators, or move a mandate from a certain payment gateway, that meant asking your customers to re-register the mandate, a huge hindrance and point of churn for customers. With UPI interoperability, you can achieve the benefits of routing basis success rates, or cost, without the switching cost associated, and no re-authentication required. Under the Interoperability framework, UPI users too can port their mandates from one TPAP (UPI PSP) to another. This flexibility allows users to choose the app of their preference to manage all their mandates. NPCI Circular OC-163 introduces an interoperability standard that decouples mandates from specific apps and processors. The technical change involves a new purpose code (AZ) and a Merchant Identifier Code (MIC) derived from the merchant’s corporate PAN, replacing the existing purpose code (14).
Regulatory BasisThis change is mandated by NPCI via Circular OC-163 (Furthering Interoperability in UPI Ecosystem) and its addendum OC-163A. Razorpay is implementing compliance in stages starting July 2026.

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What interoperability enables

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What Changes and What Doesn’t

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What Will Change

  • Existing mandates will be migrated to purpose code AZ (from 14) — automatically, over a weekly rolling schedule
  • When your customer switches their UPI app (payer port), Razorpay will update the stored VPA and UMN — no action from you
  • New mandates will eventually be created as interoperable by default, pending NPCI’s confirmation of ecosystem readiness
  • Ineligible mandates (unsupported remitter bank or PSP) will not migrate immediately — they will be retried in future cycles as ecosystem coverage expands

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What Stays the Same

  • Your Razorpay API integration — no code changes required
  • Mandate registration flow for your customers
  • Debit execution APIs and webhooks
No integration changes requiredThe initial rollout is backend-driven. Razorpay handles mandate migration, payer port callbacks, and switch updates automatically.

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How It Works

The core change is moving from a PSP-bound mandate (purpose code 14) to a platform-neutral mandate (purpose code AZ). Here’s what that means end-to-end:

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Mandate Migration (Existing Mandates)

  1. Razorpay identifies eligible mandates
    Each week, Razorpay’s backend scans your active mandates and checks if the payer’s remitter bank and PSP support interoperability. Eligibility is determined against the NPCI live player list.
  2. Migration request sent to payment switch
    For eligible mandates, Razorpay sends a ReqMandate API call with type = UPDATE to upgrade the purpose code from 14 → AZ on both the APB and Axis payment switches.
  3. NPCI confirms migration
    NPCI assigns a new UMN (Unique Mandate Number) to the migrated mandate. Razorpay stores the updated UMN against your mandate record — no change to your token_id or subscription_id.
  4. Debit execution continues normally
    All scheduled debits proceed as usual. The mandate now routes correctly regardless of which UPI app your customer uses.

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Payer Port (Customer Switches UPI App)

  1. Customer ports mandate in their UPI app
    The customer initiates a port from, say, PhonePe to Google Pay directly in their UPI app. This is a standard NPCI payer-side porting action — your customer does not need to contact you.
  2. NPCI sends a port callback to Razorpay
    NPCI notifies Razorpay with the updated payer VPA and new UMN.
  3. Razorpay updates mandate records
    Razorpay automatically updates the stored VPA and UMN in your mandate record. The next debit will use the updated payer details — no action from you or your customer.

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Eligibility

Interoperability coverage depends on the payer’s remitter bank and UPI app (PSP) supporting the NPCI standard. Coverage is expanding as more institutions certify. Mandates where either the remitter or PSP is not yet certified will be retried automatically in future weekly migration cycles.
Partial Coverage at LaunchMigration covers mandates where both the payer’s remitter bank and TPAP are in the NPCI-certified interoperability list. Ineligible mandates continue to work on the current flow and are retried in future migration cycles as ecosystem coverage expands.
The table below lists entities currently certified by NPCI for interoperability. Coverage is expected to grow as more banks and UPI apps complete certification.

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Merchant Action Items

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What should you do to start preparing for Mandate Interoperability?

If you currently process recurring mandates through another payment aggregator and want to start debit execution via Razorpay, here is how to prepare.
  1. Check readiness with your existing payment aggregator
    Confirm that your current PA has upgraded to the interoperable purpose code (AZ) for your mandates. Ask them how mandate details will be shared with you for subsequent debit processing — specifically the format and delivery method for the mandate data file.
  2. Ensure you can export the required mandate fields
    To begin debit processing with Razorpay, you will need to provide the following details for each mandate:
  3. Get in touch with Razorpay to begin integration and testing
    Once you have mandate data ready, reach out to our team to start the onboarding process. We will validate your mandate file, walk you through the integration, and run end-to-end testing before go-live.
Register your interestFill out the form below and our team will get in touch with next steps.Contact support →

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, migration is automatic. Razorpay runs a weekly job that identifies eligible mandates and migrates them to the interoperable purpose code (AZ). You do not need to request migration or change anything on your end.Only mandates where the payer’s remitter bank and UPI app both support interoperability will migrate in each cycle. The rest will be retried automatically in future cycles as ecosystem coverage grows.
No. The mandate migration is invisible to your customers. Their debit schedule, amounts, and existing authorizations remain unchanged. They will, however, gain the ability to switch their UPI app without disrupting their recurring payment — no need to cancel and re-register a new mandate.
The mandate will continue to function normally on the existing (non-interoperable) purpose code. It will be automatically retried for migration in future weekly cycles as more remitter banks and PSPs complete NPCI certification. You do not need to track or manage this — Razorpay handles it.
Razorpay ensures there is no overlap between the old mandate and the migrated mandate. Migration is a pure UPDATE operation — it does not create a new mandate or alter the debit schedule. Only one active mandate is ever held per customer.
A payer port happens when your customer changes their UPI app (e.g., from Paytm to BHIM). When this occurs, their VPA (Virtual Payment Address) changes. Previously, their mandate would not follow, and they’d need to cancel and create a new one. With interoperability, NPCI notifies Razorpay of the port event, and Razorpay updates the mandate record with the new VPA and UMN automatically.You do not need to handle payer port events in your integration. Debit executions will continue to succeed without any change from you.
Google Pay and PhonePe are not yet in the NPCI-certified interoperability list at launch. They are expected to join as NPCI expands coverage. Razorpay will migrate mandates on these PSPs automatically once they are certified — no action needed from you.
Irrevocable mandates (MCC 7322 — loan repayments, EMI) continue to operate under existing NPCI rules (OC-125A). The irrevocable flag is preserved through migration. Your customers still cannot pause or revoke these mandates from their UPI app — this rule is unchanged by interoperability.
That capability is on the roadmap. The current rollout focuses on ensuring mandates remain functional when customers switch their UPI app, and making new mandates platform-neutral from creation. Multi-processor routing — where Razorpay can execute debits across multiple processors to optimize your success rate — is planned for a later stage. We will announce it separately when available.
Regulatory reference: NPCI Circular OC-163 (Furthering Interoperability in UPI Ecosystem) and addendum OC-163A. | Contact Support | API Reference