Getting bookings
UPI advance for bookings: why pay buttons fail, what works
Quick answer
A "Pay by UPI" button that opens a payment app often fails when the money goes to a personal UPI ID: Google Pay and PhonePe can hold it back, and an iPhone may open WhatsApp instead. What works: show your UPI ID with a Copy button so the guest pays by hand, show a QR code, and best of all use a business (merchant) UPI ID.
What we saw in October 2026
On 12 October 2026 two things happened to guests booking on Homlystay websites:
- A guest on an iPhone pressed "Pay by UPI", and the phone opened WhatsApp. iPhones hand the general UPI payment link to whichever app has claimed it, and on that phone it was WhatsApp.
- Payments of ₹600 to two owners' personal UPI IDs were refused with a message about a ₹2,000 limit. Google Pay and PhonePe held back the website's payment button to a personal ID, whatever the amount.
What works
- Copy the UPI ID. Show the ID with a Copy button. The guest opens their own UPI app, pays by hand and writes the booking number in the note.
- A QR code. A plain QR of your UPI ID, like the sticker at a shop counter. On a phone, the guest saves it and picks it from the gallery inside the UPI app.
- A business UPI ID. Ask for a merchant UPI ID in your UPI app's business version: PhonePe Business, Paytm for Business or Google Pay for Business.
Before you confirm the booking
- Ask for the booking number in the payment note, so you know which booking paid.
- Check that the money is in your bank account. A screenshot is not proof.
- Send the guest a confirmation with the amount received.
How Homlystay websites take the advance
On every Homlystay website the advance goes straight to the owner's own UPI ID, with no payment gateway and no commission. The booking page shows the UPI ID with a Copy button, the steps to pay by hand with the booking number, and a QR code; the app buttons are only a small extra. See how booking works.
Where this comes from
- Homlystay's own records of guests' payments on owners' websites, 12 October 2026
This is a plain guide, not legal or tax advice. Rules change: check with the office named here before you act.