UPI AutoPay

UPI AutoPay extends the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to support auto-renewing subscriptions for buyers in India. Subscriptions are charged automatically against a recurring payment mandate the buyer authorizes in their UPI app (such as PhonePe, Paytm, or GPay) at the time of the initial purchase.

UPI AutoPay is available only in India using INR. (One-time and perpetual UPI purchases continue to use the standard UPI flow — see the UPI guide.)

The sections below explain the prerequisites, buyer flow, and technical details for UPI AutoPay. Select a section or use the TOC on the right to jump ahead.

Prerequisites

To use UPI AutoPay, the following requirements must be met:

• The buyer must be in India and the store currency must be set to INR.
• UPI AutoPay must be enabled on your store. Contact FastSpring Support to request enablement.
• The product must be configured as an auto-renewing subscription.
• The buyer must have a valid UPI app (such as PhonePe, Paytm, or GPay) and must approve a recurring payment mandate during checkout.

Customer experience

UPI AutoPay involves two distinct events: the initial mandate setup and first charge, which is instant, and subsequent automatic renewals, which complete within approximately 24 hours of the renewal date.

Initial purchase and mandate setup

1. The buyer selects UPI as their payment method on a subscription product.
2. FastSpring displays a QR code (desktop) or opens the buyer's chosen UPI app (mobile).
3. The buyer authorizes a recurring payment mandate in their UPI app, granting permission for FastSpring to debit future renewals automatically. The mandate specifies the maximum debit amount and frequency.
4. The buyer's UPI app and bank send native confirmation notifications about the mandate.
5. The first charge is processed instantly, and the FastSpring checkout updates to show success.

Note: The bank descriptor on the mandate appears as FastSpring so buyers can recognize the source of future debits.

RBI mandate

UPI AutoPay is governed by recurring-payment guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank that regulates digital payments in India. These rules apply to all auto-debit transactions in India, not just UPI, and exist to protect buyers from unauthorized recurring charges.

The two RBI requirements that most directly affect UPI AutoPay are:

• Mandate authorization. Every UPI AutoPay subscription requires the buyer to explicitly authorize a recurring payment mandate in their UPI app before any auto-debit can occur. The mandate specifies the maximum debit amount and frequency.
• Express consent for renewals above INR 15,000. Auto-debits for renewal amounts greater than INR 15,000 require an Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA / 2FA) on every renewal. This limit applies to the rebill amount only — not to the initial purchase.

Important: The INR 15,000 limit is set by RBI and applies to recurring auto-debits across all payment methods in India, including cards. It is not a FastSpring-specific restriction.

Transaction limits

*The maximum can be raised for individual sellers with approval. Contact FastSpring Support to request a review.

What happens when an auto-renewal exceeds INR 15,000

When a UPI AutoPay subscription is due to renew above INR 15,000:

1. The scheduled rebill is rejected at the processor — no debit is attempted without 2FA.
2. The subscription enters dunning following the UPI-specific dunning schedule (see Dunning).
3. The buyer is notified of the failed renewal through standard payment-failure messaging.
4. The buyer must visit their Account Management page (or your embedded payment component) and complete the payment manually, which satisfies the 2FA requirement for that charge.
5. Once the manual payment succeeds, the subscription returns to good standing on its existing schedule.

Subscription edits and proration

UPI AutoPay enforces edit windows around scheduled charges to comply with banking rules that limit how often UPI charges can be retried.

Standard subscriptions

Managed subscriptions

While the subscription is in a blocked window, the Edit button is disabled in the FastSpring app and the API returns a structured error (see API reference).

Dunning

UPI AutoPay uses a dedicated dunning schedule that is independent of your store's standard card-and-PayPal dunning configuration.

Schedule rules

• Up to 3 retry attempts.
• Each attempt is configured as a number of days after the last payment (for example, 2 / 2 / 2 days).
• The total dunning window cannot exceed 7 days.

Notifications and cancellation

• Overdue notifications configured for the store fire on UPI AutoPay subscriptions before deactivation. For example, if you have 4 overdue notifications set every 3 days, all 4 notifications send before the subscription is deactivated.
• If a buyer updates their payment method during dunning — to a new UPI account or any other supported payment method — FastSpring uses the new method to immediately initiate the charge, ending the dunning sequence.

After dunning ends

If all retries are exhausted, the subscription is deactivated per your dunning configuration. Buyers can revive the subscription anytime by visiting their Account Management page and updating their payment method.

Refunds and disputes

Refunds for UPI AutoPay can be initiated by sellers or by FastSpring Support from within the FastSpring app. Funds are returned automatically to the buyer's UPI-linked account.

• Full and partial refunds are supported for completed UPI AutoPay charges.
• Refunds can be issued within 60 days of the original charge.
• Offline refunds are supported.
• FastSpring automatically checks payment status before issuing a refund.
• Buyers typically receive a refund within 5–7 business days, depending on their bank.
• Disputes are routed through the standard UPI dispute workflow.

API reference

UPI AutoPay uses the same subscription endpoints as other FastSpring payment methods. The differences are limited to edit-window enforcement and the errors returned when a request is rejected.

Endpoints

Proration handling

When a subscription update request includes prorate=true but proration is not currently permitted (for example, the previous charge is still processing or the subscription is within 48 hours of the next renewal), the request is rejected. The system does not silently downgrade to a non-prorated edit. Inspect the error payload, then either retry with prorate=false or wait until the window has cleared.

Examples

Initiate a managed-subscription charge

POST /subscriptions/charge

{
  "subscriptions": [
    { "subscription": "xMpL7uPs2dCbR3aBnQv8Tw" }
  ]
}

Update a subscription without proration

POST /subscriptions

{
  "subscriptions": [
    {
      "subscription": "kRn5gFz_2bMpQwVx8jHyCd",
      "quantity": 7,
      "prorate": false
    }
  ]
}

Update a subscription with proration

POST /subscriptions

{
  "subscriptions": [
    {
      "subscription": "kRn5gFz_2bMpQwVx8jHyCd",
      "quantity": 8,
      "prorate": true
    }
  ]
}

Webhooks

FastSpring includes the following details in the order.completed webhook payload for UPI AutoPay transactions:

"payment": {
  "type": "upi",
  "variant": "upiphonepe"
}

The variant field reflects the specific UPI app the buyer used to complete the payment. Possible values include:

• upigpay
• upiphonepe
• upipaytm
• upidesktop

The standard subscription lifecycle webhooks also fire for UPI AutoPay:

• subscription.charge.completed — fires when a UPI AutoPay rebill settles successfully.
• subscription.charge.failed — fires when the renewal is declined (for example, on renewals above INR 15,000 or when the buyer's bank rejects the mandate).
• subscription.payment.overdue — fires when a renewal enters dunning.

For details on the order.completed payload, see the Successful Orders documentation.

FAQs