How UPI Intent Deep Linking Works on Android and iOS Browsers: Specs & Parameters

Over 82% of all e-commerce checkouts in India take place on mobile devices. For Indian consumers, typing a 20-character Virtual Payment Address (VPA) into a payment form and waiting for a push notification (the legacy “UPI Collect” flow) creates massive conversion drop-offs.

UPI Intent eliminates that friction. With a single tap, the browser opens the customer’s preferred UPI app (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, or BHIM) with the exact merchant name and order amount pre-populated.

Here is the deep technical specification of how UPI intent deep linking functions across Android and iOS mobile browsers.

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The Mechanics of Mobile UPI Intent

Direct Answer: UPI Intent operates via mobile OS URI protocol handlers. When a mobile web browser navigates to a upi://pay?... URL, the mobile operating system intercepts the custom scheme and queries its internal package manager to identify all installed applications registered to handle the upi intent filter, displaying the native app selector sheet to the user.

[ Mobile Browser Checkout Button ] ──► Clicks <a href="upi://pay?pa=...">
                     │
                     ▼
[ Android OS / iOS Intent Intercept ]
                     │
                     ▼
[ Native Bottom Sheet Launches: ]
  ├── [ Google Pay (Tez) ]
  ├── [ PhonePe ]
  ├── [ Paytm ]
  └── [ BHIM ]
                     │
                     ▼
[ User enters 4/6-digit PIN ] ──► Sub-second bank transfer complete!

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Complete NPCI URI Parameter Reference

The following parameters must be strictly URL-encoded to ensure compliance with the NPCI UPI Linking Specification Version 1.6:

Key	Parameter Name	Format / Validation	Description & Example
pa	Payee Address	Alphanumeric VPA	billing@hdfcbank
pn	Payee Name	Max 99 chars	Vyapar Store Online
tr	Transaction Ref	Max 35 chars	Merchant unique order identifier (ORD_847192)
am	Amount	Decimal (2 places)	1499.00 (Must be greater than 0)
cu	Currency Code	ISO 4217	Must be set to INR
mc	Merchant Category	4-digit MCC	5411 (Grocery), 5812 (Dining), 5732 (Electronics)
tn	Transaction Note	Max 50 chars	Order 847192 - Electronics
url	Order Summary URL	Valid HTTPS URL	Link to web order invoice page

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Android Chrome Intent Resolution

On Android devices, Google Chrome and Android WebViews support both generic URI links and explicit Android Intent syntax:

Method A: Generic URI (Recommended)

<a href="upi://pay?pa=merchant@bank&pn=Store&tr=ORD101&am=500.00&cu=INR">
  Pay via Any UPI App
</a>

Method B: Explicit Android Intent Scheme

If you wish to force the Android package manager to open a specific application directly (e.g. PhonePe):

intent://pay?pa=merchant@bank&pn=Store&tr=ORD101&am=500.00&cu=INR#Intent;scheme=upi;package=com.phonepe.app;end

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iOS Safari Challenges and Custom URL Schemes

Unlike Android, Apple’s iOS does not support open intent negotiation for generic upi:// schemes in WebKit. If a user on an iPhone taps upi://pay?... in Safari, iOS will display an error: “Safari cannot open the page because the address is invalid” unless an app with that specific scheme is installed.

To ensure 100% checkout completion on iOS:

1. App-Specific iOS URL Schemes:

• PhonePe: phonepe://pay?...
• Google Pay: tez://upi/pay?...
• Paytm: paytmmp://pay?...
• BHIM: bhim://pay?...
• CRED: cred://upi/pay?...

2. The Universal QR Fallback:

If the user is on an iOS device or desktop browser, render the Dynamic QR code prominently on screen. The user can simply scan the screen with their iPhone camera or UPI app.

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Building a Bulletproof Omnichannel Checkout Script

Here is the JavaScript detection pattern utilized by modern payment gateways:

function triggerUpiCheckout(upiData) {
  const isAndroid = /Android/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
  const isIOS = /iPhone|iPad|iPod/i.test(navigator.userAgent);

  const baseUpiParams = `pa=${upiData.vpa}&pn=${encodeURIComponent(upiData.merchantName)}&tr=${upiData.orderId}&am=${upiData.amount}&cu=INR`;

  if (isAndroid) {
    // Android: Trigger generic intent sheet directly
    window.location.href = `upi://pay?${baseUpiParams}`;
  } else if (isIOS) {
    // iOS: Open modal showing dedicated app icons or dynamic QR fallback
    showIosAppPicker(baseUpiParams, upiData.qrCodeUrl);
  } else {
    // Desktop: Display Dynamic QR Code modal
    showDesktopQrModal(upiData.qrCodeUrl);
  }
}

With VyaparGateway, these multi-device fallback rules are handled automatically by our responsive hosted checkout pages.

Generate custom intent links right now using our Free UPI Intent Generator.