MUMBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - India on Tuesday delayed the

implementation of market share caps for a popular digital

payments method by two years, a move that will benefit Google

Pay and Walmart ( WMT )-backed PhonePe.

According to the proposal, first made in November 2020,

digital payment firms would not be allowed to hold more than 30%

share of the volume of transactions processed via India's

popular unified payments interface (UPI).

The mandate, which was to take effect from the end of 2024,

will now kick in at the end of December 2026, according to a

statement from the National Payments Corporation of India

(NPCI), a quasi-regulator.

Google Pay and Walmart ( WMT )-backed PhonePe are the two most

widely used apps in India to make UPI payments. Other players

include fintech companies such as Paytm, Navi, Cred and Amazon

Pay.

PhonePe's share of UPI payments stood at 47.8% in November

2024 while Google Pay's share was at 37%, according to

regulatory data. The two firms processed a combined 13.1 billion

transactions in November, the data showed.

"The decision to delay the market share cap is aimed at not

hindering the growth of the UPI ecosystem while also giving

other players the time to grow," a person familiar with the

discussions said, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they

are not allowed to speak to the media.

The NPCI did not immediately respond to an email seeking

comment.

The NPCI also lifted a cap on WhatsApp Pay's UPI product

onboarding users, according to a separate statement on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)