Indian Crypto Exchanges Remove UPI and Other Payment Options
Many Indian cryptocurrency exchanges are removing rupee deposits and limiting payments via the Unified Payments Interface. This was in response to a statement by the National Payments Corporation of India, (NPCI), regarding the use of the UPI system for crypto exchanges.
Indian Exchanges No Longer Offer Major Payment Options:
There are fewer options to deposit Indian rupees on cryptocurrency exchanges. A growing number of cryptocurrency exchanges have made it impossible to deposit Indian rupees using the Unified Payments Interface system (UPI), which is the most popular retail payment method.
Wazirx, a crypto exchange, does not offer UPI support. The exchange tweeted Wednesday that UPI support was not available. Coindcx also stated Monday that UPI support is temporarily unavailable.
Coinswitch Kuber took it a step further by reportedly suspending all INR deposit services Wednesday, including UPI, bank transfers via NEFT and RTGS, and IMPS. Coinswitch, a leading cryptocurrency trading platform in India, has over 15 million users.
The recently launched Indian crypto exchange Coinbase is listed on the Nasdaq. It stated that crypto purchases were being disabled "due to an ongoing problem we're having with the UPI system."
After the National Payments Corporation of India issued a statement, it was clear that cryptocurrency exchanges no longer support UPI payments. Following Coinbase's launch in India, the NPCI issued a statement stating that UPI could be used to deposit funds and allow users to purchase cryptocurrencies using UPI.
Forkast publication was told by a person familiar with the matter that Coinbase's claim to have UPI support meant that the NPCI was in a difficult spot. The person stated that Coinbase was launched in India, and the company announced UPI support. "Then the NPCI realized it had to clarify."
Popular payment service Mobikwik stopped offering services to crypto exchanges earlier this month.
The Indian 30% tax on crypto income was implemented without any loss offsets or deductions. Crypto trading volumes have plummeted in India. A 1% tax will be imposed on crypto transactions starting July 1.