UPI Reserve Pay

UPI Reserve Pay enables customers to securely block funds in their account for up to 90 days at the time of transaction. The actual payment is deducted only when the merchant initiates a debit request. If the transaction is not completed, the reserved amount is automatically released back to the customer’s account.

Merchants can perform multiple debits from the reserved amount until it is fully utilized, offering flexibility for both businesses and customers. Plus, customers don’t need to enter their UPI PIN for every payment.

Use Cases

UPI Reserve Pay is ideal for scenarios where payment flexibility and fund assurance are critical:

• E-Commerce (Flash Sales): During sales, ₹10,000 is blocked for products. Final charges (e.g., ₹9,200) are captured, and the balance ₹800 is released if items are unavailable.   
• Prepaid Services (Mobile Recharge): For a recharge of ₹499, ₹550 is blocked to account for plan adjustments. After finalizing the recharge (e.g., ₹499), the balance ₹51 is released.   
• Tourism (Ticket Bookings): Customers block Rs. 2,500 using UPI during ticket booking. If confirmed, funds are captured. If not, the block is released   
• BFSI (Insurance Premium): For a premium range of Rs. 2,500–4,000, Rs. 4,000 is blocked. After policy approval, the exact premium (e.g., Rs. 3,000) is captured, and the balance is released   
• Healthcare (Patient Check-ins): For an estimated Rs. 50,000 hospitalization fee, the amount is blocked. Upon final billing (e.g., Rs. 45,000), the charge is captured, and the excess Rs. 5,000 is released.

How It Works

1. Authorization: At order placement, a specified amount is blocked in the customer’s account.
2. Capture: Merchant debits all or part of the blocked amount as needed until the reserve expires.
3. Cancellation: Cancel within the allowed timeframe to instantly release funds back to the customer.

Key Features

• Extended Fund Hold: Unlike cards (7 days) and standard OTM (60 days), UPI Reserve Pay allows funds to remain blocked for up to 90 days.
• Instant Refunds: Cancelled transactions immediately credit the amount back to the customer’s account.
• Seamless Merchant Experience: Block funds at order placement and capture payment when required. Real-time confirmation ensures confidence for both parties—perfect for pre-orders, reservations, and delayed deliveries.
• Amount Unblocking: Currently, the releasing of funds is done by remiters but PayU has built a functionality (internal) to revoke the transactions based on end date to minimise the funds on hold.

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Reference: All the other API integrations will remain same for One time mandate. For more information, refer to APIs used in Auth and Capture.

Next Steps

UPI Reserve Pay is supported on the following APIs:

• Merchant Hosted Checkout: For more information, refer to UPI Reserve Pay One-Time Mandate - Merchant Hosted
• PayU Hosted Checkout: For more information, refer to UPI Reserve Pay One-Time Mandate - PayU Hosted