View source for NUUP

[[File:*99- USSD.png|alt=USSD Sample|thumb|*99# USSD]]

The National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) lets you use UPI by dialling *99#, without having to install a proprietary app.

The service is run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the government-backed private company that also operates the UPI ecosystem itself.

== *99# and BHIM ==
Besides NUUP, NPCI also operates BHIM which is a proprietary app for Android smartphones. The two are linked in the sense that dialling *99# is essentially a different way of accessing your BHIM account. Practically, this means that if you run into issues setting up UPI payments with *99#, you can often work around this by borrowing a proprietary Android phone from someone and installing BHIM on that to link your bank and set up UPI payments. Once done, you can uninstall the app and make payments directly via *99#.

* [https://www.bhimupi.org.in/steps-to-use-99 Official BHIM page for *99#]

== Provider support ==
While NUUP is theoretically supposed to work on all USSD supporting carriers in India (all the provider apart from Jio), the service is not very well maintained and keeps going down, or, in some cases, doesn't work at all.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Provider support for *99#
|-
! Provider !! Officially supported !! Actually working
|-
| Airtel   || {{Tick}}             || {{Tick}}
|-
| BSNL     || {{Tick}}             || {{Cross}}
|-
| Jio      || {{Cross}}            || {{Cross}}
|-
| MTNL     ||                      ||
|-
| Vi       || {{Tick}}             || {{Tick}} but can pay only to mobile numbers and not full upi ids. collect requests works.
|}

[[File:Nuup-vi.png|alt=USSD failure with vi|thumb|Vi failing with UPI ID]]

== Bank support ==
The NPCI [https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/99/live-members lists 103 banks] supporting *99# payments. However, each of them has their own slightly different interface to the service, and not all of them work seamlessly.

This section provides crowdsourced information on which banks have been known to work or not, as experienced by the FSCI community.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Bank feature support on *99#
|-
! Bank                     !! Available on service !! Registration (if UPI PIN not set) !! Registration (if UPI PIN already set) !! Accepting payment request !! Receiving money!! Payment to beneficiary !! Payment to UPI ID !! Payment to Mobile Number !! Payment to Account/IFSC !! Setting UPI ID
|-
| City Union Bank          || {{Tick}}             || {{Cross}} Sends an SMS regarding UPI activation as well as an OTP, but USSD only says to "keep your debit card ready" and doesn't accept further input || {{Tick}}             || {{Tick}}                  || {{Tick}}       ||                        || {{Cross}} truncates at `@` and claims "invalid UPI ID" ||  ||           || {{Tick}}
|-
| Federal Bank             || {{Tick}}             ||                                   || {{Tick}}             ||                                                ||                ||                       ||                                 yes||                                 yes|| ||
|-
| Kotak Bank             || {{Tick}}             ||                                   || {{Tick}}             ||                                                ||                ||                       ||                                 yes||                                 yes|| ||
|-
| ICICI                    || {{Tick}}             || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}             ||                                        ||                ||             || {{Tick}} on Airtel, but {{Cross}} on vi, which truncates at `@` and claims "invalid UPI ID"                   ||   {{Tick}}      ||            || 
|-
| India Post Payments Bank || {{Cross}} Supposedly listed, but not actually present || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}}                   || {{Cross}}           ||                || {{Cross}}             || {{Cross}}                          || {{Cross}}                       || {{Cross}}               || {{Cross}}
|-
| Indian Bank              || {{Tick}}             || {{Cross}} Allows debit card based registration but goes into loop due to bug with 6 digit PIN vs. 4 digit PIN                              || {{Tick}}             || {{Tick}}                                       || {{Tick}}       || {{Tick}}         || {{Cross}} truncates at `@` and claims "invalid UPI ID" || {{Tick}} ||   || {{Tick}}
|-
|Central Bank of India
|{{Tick}}
|
|
|
|
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|
|
|}

== City Support ==
It is observed to be working only in selected cities.

Confirmed working: Bengaluru, Kochi, Mumbai, Gurugram

Confirmed not working: Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Palakkad, Pune, Surat, Coimbatore

== Limitations ==
Dynamic QR codes generated by payment machines don't work. Only fixed QR codes / UPI ids work.

== UPI URL format ==
Currently we can only copy the whole URL in most QR scanning apps, so we have to manually extract the UPI id when making payments via *99# ussd interface or in android without google play service, upi apps can't scan directly, so you still need to extract the upi id manually).

UPI url looks like upi://pay?pa=Motilal2005@hdfcbank&pn=MOFSL&mc=6021&tr=uft_2288daf8bd45a5&tn=Pay%2520to%2520MOFSL&mode=03&am=100&cu=INR

Here UPI id is the value of pa, ie, Motilal2005@hdfcbank

See https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/millipixels/-/issues/98 for adding support to extract UPI id in millipixels.

== Collect Requests ==
Businesses can still initiate collect requests - for example payment gateways (tested with RazorPay page). You enter your UPI id on the webpage and diasl *99#, it will directly show the accept request screen, you can enter the pin to approve the request.
[[File:Upi-Collect-Request.png|alt=UPI Collect Request screenshot|thumb|UPI Collect Request]]

'''Note:''' Starting 1 October 2025, UPI collect request will [https://www.angelone.in/news/personal-finance/upi-collect-requests-to-end-from-october-1-what-phonepe-google-pay-paytm-users-must-know no longer be available for individuals] although it will still be available for businesses as well as online payments. The ostensible reason is to prevent "fraud" from people misusing the collect request functionality. Specifically, this means it will not be possible to ask people to request money in case adding via UPI ID is not working. Some UPI apps like Paytm and PhonePe have already stopped offering this feature.

Collect requests works with RazorPay page but fails with Airtel Recharge.

== Directly Opening a specific screen ==
Choices can be sent directly as well. *99*1# opens the screen to send money directly, whereas *99*1*3# takes you to the screen to enter the UPI ID. So with this the camera app itself could add a pay option if upi:// URL is detected and dial *99*1*3# and fill the UPI id, so we can emulate the scan and pay - then people will only have to enter pin manually!

== Send Feedback to NPCI/BHIM ==
Please send feedback via https://www.bhimupi.org.in/get-in-touch The more people send, the more likely we gain their attention. They might easily reject our requests saying it is a different application, but we have to be persistent in asking them to escalate the ticket with their manager or technical team and we might have to resort to other options like publicly challenging them on Twitter or going to Consumer Court. They have provided a channel for feedback but refusing to accept any complaints.

Reply from their support given below,<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
Dear Pirate Praveen,

Thank you for contacting BHIM Support.

Upon checking the screenshot, we found that the transaction was processed from another payment app and not via BHIM.

For a quick resolution we kindly request you to contact the support team of the respective application. For any transaction made directly through BHIM, we will be happy to assist you further.

Best regards,
Name Removed
BHIM Support

</syntaxhighlight>

== See also ==

# [[Making payments using Free Software]]