Shopify Subscriptions in India: UPI Autopay Options

Coffee, supplements, pet food, skincare refills: plenty of Indian D2C brands sell things people buy every month. So it's a surprise when they install a Shopify subscription app and find it won't take payments. A thread on r/ShopifyDevelopment asked exactly this: "Do recurring subscription apps support only Shopify Payments? Why no UPI Autopay in India?"

Why the usual setup doesn't work in India

Shopify's help centre lists the gateways a store must use for third-party subscription apps: Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen and Stripe (Stripe only for select merchants). Shopify Payments isn't available in India, and the gateways most Indian stores use, such as Razorpay, Cashfree and PayU, aren't on that list.

So the standard "subscribe and save" button on the product page, charging automatically each month through Shopify's checkout, isn't open to most Indian stores. You need a different setup.

The RBI rules

Any automatic recurring debit in India runs under RBI's E-mandate Framework. The 2026 version, issued on 21 April 2026, covers cards, prepaid instruments and UPI. The parts that matter for a store:

• recurring payments can be charged without extra authentication up to ₹15,000 per transaction (higher limits apply only to insurance, mutual funds and credit card bills)
• the customer must get a pre-debit notice at least 24 hours before each charge
• the customer sets up the mandate once, with authentication, and can cancel it

₹15,000 covers almost any D2C subscription. The pre-debit notice is the part you have to build in.

Option A: a subscription app with Indian mandates

Some subscription apps have built their own billing around Razorpay or Cashfree mandates instead of Shopify's checkout. The customer approves a UPI Autopay mandate once, and the app creates the Shopify order each cycle. Ask any vendor:

• how the mandate is collected, and whether the first order goes through your normal checkout
• who sends the 24-hour pre-debit notice
• what happens to the Shopify order when a debit fails
• whether you can export subscribers and mandates if you leave

Option B: reminders instead of auto-debit

For many brands, the simplest fix is a reorder reminder. When a customer's pack is due to run out, send a WhatsApp or email message with a link to a pre-filled cart and a subscriber discount. There's no mandate to manage and no failed debits, and the customer stays in control. It converts lower than true auto-debit, but it's quick to set up with tools you probably already have. Our WhatsApp integration guide covers the messaging side.

Option C: build it

Razorpay's documentation describes two ways to set up UPI Autopay: Recurring Payments, and Subscriptions with weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly plans. A custom build uses one of these for the money and creates the order in Shopify for each successful charge. It's more work, and worth it when subscriptions are a big part of revenue or the plans are unusual: build-your-own boxes, pausing, or skipping a month.

Failed debits

Failed payments come up a lot on Reddit, where one Indian merchant said 30 to 40% of renewals were failing. Plan for it:

• retry once or twice on different days, within what the mandate allows
• tell the customer on WhatsApp with a payment link straight away
• don't ship until the payment is through, and make that clear in the message

Which to choose

Whichever you choose, check the gateway costs first. Our payment gateway comparison has the current fees.