SBI UPI Services to Remain Unavailable for 45 Minutes on September 4: What Customers Need to Know

State Bank of India has announced a 45-minute maintenance window for its UPI services on the night of September 4, 2026, temporarily affecting digital payments.

UPI Services to Be Suspended for 45 Minutes

According to information issued by the State Bank of India, UPI transaction services will remain unavailable from 12:15 am to 1:00 am on September 4 due to scheduled technical maintenance.

The bank has indicated that the maintenance could be completed before the scheduled end time. Customers using SBI's UPI services should therefore avoid relying on a UPI transaction during this window, particularly for time-sensitive payments.

UPI Lite Will Remain Available

Customers who need to make smaller payments during the maintenance period can use UPI Lite.

UPI Lite allows eligible transactions without entering a UPI PIN for each payment. According to the information cited in the report, transactions of up to Rs 1,000 can be made through UPI Lite, while the balance limit is up to Rs 5,000.

This could provide an alternative for customers making routine, low-value payments while SBI's main UPI service is undergoing maintenance.

What Are SBI's UPI Transaction Limits?

SBI generally permits UPI transactions of up to Rs 1 lakh in a day, although the applicable limit can vary depending on the type of transaction and merchant category.

For person-to-person payments, customers can make up to 20 transactions a day. Higher limits apply to certain verified merchant categories.

Insurance and capital market transactions can have limits of up to Rs 2 lakh, while payments related to IPOs, taxes, hospitals and educational institutions can have limits of up to Rs 5 lakh, subject to the applicable rules and conditions.

UPI Has Become a Major Payment Network

The temporary SBI outage comes at a time when UPI has become a central part of India's digital payments system.

UPI recorded around 2 crore transactions during the 2016-17 financial year. By 2025-26, the number had risen to more than 24,162 crore transactions.

The value of transactions also increased sharply over the same period, from around Rs 0.07 lakh crore to approximately Rs 314 lakh crore.

No UPI Charge for Ordinary Customers

The report also refers to a government clarification on proposed Merchant Discount Rate arrangements for certain merchant transactions.

Ordinary customers will not be charged for making UPI payments, while person-to-person transactions will continue to remain free. Any proposed MDR would apply to specified merchant transactions rather than routine payments made by individuals.

For SBI customers, however, the immediate issue is the scheduled maintenance window on September 4. Those expecting to make an important payment around midnight may want to complete it earlier or keep an alternative payment method ready.