Google Play Cuts Off PayTM UPI and Vodafone/Idea Billing in India

From August 31, Indian users who rely on PayTM UPI handles (@paytm) for payments on Google Play will find failed payment notifications. This comes straight from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which has told Google to pull the plug. That means no more easy one-click renewals for subscriptions tied to PayTM UPI.

This means that if a user was paying for YouTube Premium or Google One storage through PayTM UPI will start seeing a message of failed transaction from August 31, 2025. Users are being asked to swap PayTM for another UPI app Google Pay, PhonePe, BHIM, PayZapp or more.

“On August 31, @PayTM UPI handles will be deprecated and won’t be an accepted form of payment on Google Play. This is per instructions by the National Payment Corporations of India (NCPI),” an official notification from the Google Pay read.

Vodafone and Idea Users Face Another Blow

In addition to PayTM facing the brunt, from August 31, 2025 onwards, Vodafone and Idea mobile billing will be suspended on Google Play. Mobile billing was the convenient way a lot of users pay for the charge onto their monthly phone bill and be done with it. That option is gone.

So, if a customer who was paying Rs 129 for YouTube Premium each month through mobile billing? Out of luck. They must go fishing for another payment method. And if they don’t notice the change in time, YouTube Premium simply shuts off. No ad-free videos, no offline downloads.

What Users Must Do Now

To keep subscriptions running Google’s specifies what users can do.:

Add another UPI handle (like Google Pay, PhonePe, or BHIM)

Or switch to a card (debit/credit) or netbanking

Most importantly, manually update every subscription. A payment method change at the account level doesn’t always sync. Users must dig into each subscription YouTube, Drive, games, dating apps, fitness trackers and swap the billing option one by one

“To avoid interruptions to existing subscriptions, please add a different accepted payment method or UPI handle to your Play account and update any existing subscriptions to use the new payment method or UPI handle, the official statement read.