ChanaJor OTT taps UPI AutoPay to scale subscriptions across India

DELHI: India’s subscription economy is learning to move at thumb speed. As UPI cements itself as the country’s default way to pay, ChanaJor OTT is leaning into AutoPay to lock in millions of mobile-first users, especially beyond the metros.

The short- and mid-format Indian-language platform has made UPI AutoPay central to its growth playbook, using recurring mandates to smooth renewals and cut drop-offs in price-sensitive markets. For users, it means fewer reminders and no monthly payment grind. For the platform, it means stickier subscriptions and fewer failed renewals.

Pratap Jain, founder and ceo of ChanaJor OTT, says the logic is simple. Match payments to behaviour. UPI is how most Indians already transact, particularly in smaller towns and semi-urban areas. AutoPay lets users opt in once and forget about it, while retaining the ability to cancel anytime.

The upside is clear. Subscriptions run uninterrupted, access stays seamless and affordability improves. The familiarity of UPI, Jain argues, lowers psychological barriers to paying for content, helping digital services reach audiences that cards never quite managed to capture.

Yet friction persists. AutoPay is still a new habit. Many users balk at the idea of recurring debits, spooked by fears of endless deductions and unclear exit routes. Mandate creation does not help. Too many steps, PIN prompts, vague bank messages, app timeouts and uneven experiences across UPI apps all chip away at completion rates. Add the occasional bank-side glitch and approvals suffer.

Even so, the numbers leave little room for doubt. On ChanaJor OTT, payment volumes skew roughly 15:85 between cards and UPI. Cards may deliver higher success rates, but they come with baggage. Card numbers, expiry dates, CVVs and OTPs slow things down. UPI, by contrast, is a single-PIN affair. With intent-based flows gaining ground, it is getting faster and slicker still.

For merchants, economics seals the deal. Cards work for higher ticket sizes. But for small, frequent payments, the lifeblood of OTT, gaming and music, UPI wins on convenience and cost. Lower MDRs mean platforms keep more of what they earn, a critical edge when subscription prices are deliberately modest.

Jain sees UPI AutoPay as more than plumbing. It is an access layer, bringing digital content within reach for millions while giving platforms a sustainable path to scale. As India’s next wave of users comes online from Bharat’s heartland, the message is blunt. If you want reach, you ride UPI.

And if you want renewals to stick, you make them automatic.