In the modern digital age, convenience rules—particularly when it comes to payments. Whether it's your OTT subscription every month or your gym membership, recurring payments are now a part of daily life. But what about the education sector?
If you are a teacher conducting online courses or coaching classes, knowing and applying recurring payments in India can save your time, enhance your cash flow, and make the learning experience better for your students.
In this blog post, we'll demystify recurring payments for you, detail how they are used in India, cover RBI regulations, and demonstrate how Learnyst makes it easy for your online academy.
According to the Data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shows that UPI Autopay transactions surged to 175 million in January 2025, marking a threefold rise from 58 million in January 2024.
Recurring payments (subscription payments) refer to automatic payments made at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, or annually) for a service or product. The customer authorizes payment once, and then the system automatically processes the payment.
For instance:
A student pays ₹499/month for a stock market course. Rather than paying by hand every month, the payment gets auto-debited from their card or UPI each month—until canceled.
In India, recurring payments are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). RBI has issued certain guidelines to ensure recurring payments are safer and more transparent.
Important Points You Should Know:
When the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) released Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in 2016, it revolutionized the way digital payments are made by Indians. UPI not only facilitated bank-to-bank transfers in real time but also set the stage for secure, convenient, and scalable recurring payment systems.
UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is an instant payment system created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that lets you send money in real time between bank accounts with the use of a mobile phone.
Conventionally, periodic payments such as monthly subscription, SIP, insurance premium, or electricity bills used to be made through credit cards, ECS (Electronic Clearing Service), or net banking mandates. These processes used to involve cumbersome authorization procedures and were not made available for users who were not credit card holders or had access to net banking.
For teachers and online course authors, particularly those utilizing Learnyst-like platforms, UPI has accelerated subscription-based payment collection and made it more accessible. Learners can now subscribe to monthly plans, pay for test series, or gain access to premium content with ease—simply by tapping a few times on their device.
Suppose you have an NISM course on Learnyst. You charge ₹999/month. With recurring payments, your students enroll once and pay automatically every month until they finish the course or unsubscribe. This is best for:
RBI's rules looks kind of complex, but here’s a simplified version just for educators:
|
Rule |
What It Means for You |
|
One-Time Authentication |
The student must approve recurring billing during checkout. |
|
24-Hour Notification |
They’ll get an email/SMS before any auto-debit. |
|
Cancel Anytime Option |
You must offer an easy cancellation option—Learnyst handles this for you. |
With Learnyst, it's a piece of cake to set up recurring payments. We've made integrations with Indian payment gateways that are 100% RBI-compliant. Here's what you have to look forward to:
Bonus: You can even provide discounts for longer subscriptions (e.g., 20% off for yearly plans) to increase your revenue.
For instructors and course developers, recurring billing means a steady stream of revenue, reduces manual intervention, and provides learners with an uninterrupted learning experience. Knowing how recurring payments function—and how to effectively implement them—can place you ahead in a competitive digital economy.
By integrating with trusted payment gateways and being RBI-compliant, educators can confidently launch recurring payment models that are scalable and student-friendly.
And finally, if you are an educator who wants to teach online without worrying about the security and the technical aspects, or if you are already teaching online but concerned about the data security and piracy issues, then check out one of the most secure learning management systems in the world, Learnyst, and experience the world of Learnyst with a 14-day free trial. Why wait? Check out Learnyst today.
ETF in payment terms typically means Electronic Funds Transfer. It is the electronic transfer of funds from one bank account to another without the use of physical cash or checks.
A remit payment is the method of sending money from one individual or organization to another, usually between different places or nations. The term "remit" literally means to send or transfer money.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was officially launched by National Payments corporation of India (NPCI) on April 11, 2016.