'No cash, no problem!': Shopkeeper asks to 'pay with dance' as the payment fails

Indian users on Wednesday experienced disruptions in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services, with payment failures being reported on platforms such as Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe and other payment apps. Needless to say, this led to a torrent of memes on social media. While most users criticized the technical issues, others took the opportunity to make light of the situation, overwhelming social media platform X with humorous memes and comments.
A cheeky user felt sympathetic towards the Reserve Bank of India governor, stating,

Widespread disruptions reported

"UPI is down, and now even my chaiwala is providing 'Net Banking' instead. At last, a day when we all get to experience what it takes to be an RBI governor, no control over our own money!"

Bapu after knowing about #UPIDown pic.twitter.com/3K7ZYWaRvF

— Prayag (@theprayagtiwari) March 26, 2025

Another user posted a gif of actor Nana Patekar washing dishes, implying that he would have to roll up his sleeves and do the same. "UPI is down, couldn't pay the money so dhaba owner asked me to do the work,:" the post read, accompanied by the gif. In the same vein of frustration, another user remarked: "UPI has been on the decline since last hour servers are down. Aaj bartan dhulwa ke hi manega."

UPI is down, couldn't pay the money so dhaba owner asked me to do the work #Upidown #Upi pic.twitter.com/YShVWUmgTg

— भाई साहब (@Bhai_saheb) March 26, 2025

Social media flooded with memes and complaints

One meme consisted of an AI-created gif of Mahatma Gandhi appearing to wrestle, captioned: "Bapu after hearing about UPI down."
Another user shared a photo of actor Pankaj Tripathi looking dejected, captioned: "The shopkeeper staring at me as I attempt paying through UPI."
On a lighter note, one user posted a meme showing ICC chairman Jay Shah pointing towards his chest and captioned it: "UPI seems to be down! Junta carrying no cash be like."A combination of optimism and annoyance was posted by another user:

The shopkeeper looking at me while I try paying via UPI

#upidown #upioutage #upi pic.twitter.com/uLEoY4Kh16

— Sandeep Sharma (@nitrotoluene) March 26, 2025

"Some are saying UPI was down some saying doing fine. But UPI and online payment is one of best thing happened. very simple and fast and useful". "UPI was down, payment was failed so shopkeeper ask me to dance and Go," went another comment with an accompanying gif of an anonymous man dancing.

UPI was down, payment was failed so shopkeeper ask me to dance and Go#UPIDown pic.twitter.com/Pm0n5r4zaB

— भाई साहब (@Bhai_saheb) March 26, 2025

NPCI responds to the outage

While this was happening, another user provided a reality check and said that the glitch would not have been so problematic if individuals had brought cash: "Aaj #UPIDown ke wajah se bohot dikkat hui kyuki cash lekar chalne ki habit hi khatam ho gayi hai. Hope this will be resolved soon."
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) reported shortly after the outage that the technical problems were intermittent but have since been resolved. "NPCI had experienced intermittent technical glitches due to which UPI had seen partial drop. The same has now been resolved and the system has settled. Sorry for the inconvenience," NPCI wrote on a X post.