Fintechs tell NPCI its ‘default app’ plan could kill competition

Seven of India’s leading fintech players — Paytm, Navi, CRED, Super Money, Kiwi, BharatPe and FamPay — have jointly written to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), submitting that its proposed “UPI Meta” checkout protocol could kill the very competition it claims to enhance. In a strongly worded joint representation seen by ET, the companies warn that the framework risks locking customers into a single default payment app chosen at onboarding, rather than letting them actively choose at every transaction. The third-party application providers (TPAPs) have requested NPCI to undertake broader consultation before progressing with the proposed framework.