India, July 26 -- At 3 am, when most of the country sleeps, UPI doesn't. Refunds are processed. Mandates get triggered. A balance request pings a bank server. Billions of such actions, all powered by silent code-Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs-that keep India's digital economy humming. But now, that hum is getting a volume cap.

Starting August 1, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will enforce new restrictions on how frequently UPI apps can access critical backend services. A user will be allowed to check their bank balance no more than 50 times a day, per app. Viewing linked accounts will be capped at 25 times. Failed payment status checks can only be triggered three times in two hours, with mandatory pauses b...