NPCI

SBI, Axis Bank and Bank of Baroda plan to reinvest proceeds from the proposed UPI MDR levy in technology, security, infrastructure and merchant expansion rather than boost profits

NPCI says merchant charges are important to sustain UPI, but the Supreme Court will analyse the legal basis of the levy, its validity and its impact on businesses

NPCI Tech Solutions Limited will focus on AI, blockchain, digital financial infrastructure and GCC services, with NPCI chief technology officer Vishal Kanvaty named MD and CEO

Sebi seeks to include insurance and bank deposit details in consolidated account statements to give investors a comprehensive view of their financial assets

NPCI has postponed the levy of MDR on select UPI merchant transactions, originally due from October 15, while leaving the proposed fee structure unchanged

NPCI MD and CEO Dilip Asbe joins Swift's 15-member supervisory board, which will oversee the global financial messaging network's strategy and strengthen international cooperation

UPI MDR may be deferred to January 1, while the exemption for small merchants could be expanded to businesses with annual turnover of up to ₹40 lakh

A 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate takes effect on October 15, while small payments remain free; UPI recorded 802 million average daily transactions in September.

UPI processed an average 802 million transactions a day in September, up about 1 per cent from August, while transaction value also remained firm despite the MDR backlash

18% GST on merchant discount rate could be reviewed

PhonePe, Paytm, Pine Labs and MobiKwik are stepping up merchant acquisition and device deployment as UPI MDR returns and NPCI plans a Rs 3,000-crore fund

UPI's costs could be shared more widely without distorting the incentives to use digital payments

Proposed UPI MDR will give remitter banks the largest revenue share, while private banks dominate the merchant-side transactions

An SBI official says the UPI merchant discount rate could cover the bank's transaction costs and leave a small surplus, while merchants may split payments to avoid the fee

Government may monitor merchants to ensure new UPI charges are not passed on to consumers from October 15

UPI apps say their Rs 1 share from a Rs 5 MDR on larger bill payments will not cover Bharat Bill Payment System commissions, while smaller transactions earn nothing at all

The finance ministry on Wednesday clarified that there was no foreign influence behind the decision to impose 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000. The clarification follows accusations by some Opposition parties, including the Congress, that the government succumbed to US pressure in taking the decision to impose the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). "Some claims suggest the change is due to foreign influence. This is false. India's UPI policy decisions are made independently, with the clear goal of building a self-sustaining, inclusive, and affordable digital payments ecosystem," the finance ministry said in a post on X. Since its launch in 2016, UPI has grown into the world's largest real-time interoperable payment system - entirely on India's own terms, it said. UPI processed 24.5 billion transactions in August 2026 alone. To keep this system self-sustainable, secure and innovative, a small fee on high-value merchant transactions helps fund better

Sources stress MDR is not a tax on UPI, since the fee is distributed among participants in the payments chain rather than accruing to the government

The consultations ‌come after India changed its payments legislation on Monday, allowing firms to charge transactions of more than ₹2,000

The focus is on user protection, mapping actual risks from potential liabilities when agents go rogue, and governance standards around evolving technologies like these