DigiSaathi: 24*7 UPI payment helpline now available on WhatsApp. Here's all you need to know

DigiSaathi: 24*7 UPI payment helpline now available on WhatsApp. Here’s all you need to know:

The DigiSaathi was launched on behalf of a consortium of payment system operators and participants comprising banks and non-banking financial entities

It is an automated response system that helps customers in addressing their queries related to debit and credit cards, UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, PPI wallets, ATM, and mobile and net banking

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Tuesday informed that they have set up a 24*7 helpline to aid with digital payments products and services. The helpline is called DigiSaathi and it will also be accessible on WhatsApp all the information customers need related to digital payment products and services.

The DigiSaathi was launched on behalf of a consortium of payment system operators and participants comprising banks and non-banking financial entities, NPCI said.

DigiSaathi was recently launched recently by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das. It is an automated response system that helps customers in addressing their queries related to debit and credit cards, UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, PPI wallets, ATM, and mobile and net banking, among others.

“DigiSaathi is available to customers via website & chatbot facility at www.digisaathi.info, through toll-free calls – 14431 & 1800 891 3333 and on WhatsApp by messaging on +91 892 891 3333. The service will soon be available on more social media channels to meet customer requirements," the NPCI added.

“DigiSaathi will assist the users with all their queries on digital payments via the chatbot facility on WhatsApp by simply messaging on +91 892 891 3333. The facility will soon also be available on other social media channels as well," the NPCI said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Consortium of Payment System Operators and Participants, including ecosystem partners, banks, card networks, PPIs, fintechs, Payments Council of India (PCI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), came together to implement this to empower people to adopt digital payments with even more conviction.

DigiSaathi, which is available in both English and Hindi, even guides them on how to avail or use any particular product or service. DigiSaathi also helps customers with their transaction-related queries, by guiding them and sharing the contact details of concerned banks/ institutions.

“The FAQs (frequently asked questions) and automated responses listed on DigiSaathi are reviewed periodically to offer more updated and accurate responses to the callers/users," it said.

Recently, several users took to Twitter to complain that they could not pay via UPI, which was down for more than an hour. They said they were unable to transfer money via different apps including Google Pay and PhonePe. They were being told that the payment had failed after long processing times.

However, later, the NPCI said in a tweet, “UPI services are working as usual. Some users may have experienced issues while using UPI for a brief period, around 8 PM today. The momentary issue with some UPI ecosystem partners has been resolved."

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounts for over 60 per cent of retail transactions in India. A majority of these transactions are low-value, with volumes of transactions below ₹100 making up for 75 per cent of the total. UPI saw 540 crore transactions worth ₹9.60 lakh crore in March.