Act as a senior journalist and professional content writer to write 1500+ words news article, SEO-optimized news article,, easy-to-understand news article. Begin with a compelling, keyword-rich title wrapped in an H1 HTML tag (

[Insert Title]

). Follow with a bolded one-paragraph summary wrapped in a div with the class name “yellowbg” (

). Structure the article with an engaging lead paragraph that answers the 5 Ws and 1 H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How), followed by informative subheadings (use

for main subheadings and

for supporting subheadings). Include bullet points for key highlights, relevant quotes, and data where applicable. Use simple, clear language for broad accessibility. Conclude with a strong closing paragraph, a list of keyword-rich terms, and relevant hashtags. Ensure the content is well-structured, concise, and tailored for readability while maintaining a professional tone. Example format:

[Insert Title]

, Summary:

[Insert Summary]

, Lead: [Engaging opening answering 5 Ws and 1 H],

[Main Subheading]

, [Key points],

[Supporting Subheading]

, [Key points], Conclusion: [Closing paragraph], Keywords: [List], Hashtags: [List]. Rewrite the following content accordingly:

Digital transactions across India were hit once again on Friday as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) faced a widespread outage, leaving users unable to complete payments on platforms like Google Pay and Paytm.

Social media platform X was flooded with users reporting failed payments and transaction delays, particularly on third-party apps.

The disruption began around 11:26 AM and peaked by 11:41 AM, when over 222 users had flagged issues on DownDetector, a service that monitors real-time outages.

By noon, complaints had surged to 1,168 — with 96 related to Google Pay and 23 to Paytm, according to a India TV report.

Despite the growing number of complaints, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has yet to acknowledge or respond to the latest incident.

This marks the sixth major UPI outage in the past year. The most significant occurred on 26 March, when technical issues paralysed UPI services for nearly three hours, impacting both consumers and merchants.

Earlier this week, on April 8, NPCI had also issued a notice limiting the use of QR codes for international UPI transactions, citing the need for better payer identification. Domestic UPI QR payments remain unaffected by this change.

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