Page 2 - Upi

SC to hear plea against MDR on UPI merchant payments above ₹2,000 on Monday

The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a plea challenging the Centre's decision to impose a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on specified UPI person-to-merchant transactions of over Rs 2,000. Ending nearly six years of fully free UPI payments, the government has introduced a 0.4 per cent fee on transfers worth over Rs 2,000 made to merchants through the UPI platform from October 15 while explicitly ring-fencing everyday person-to-person transactions and small payments from any charge. The MDR will be capped at Rs 300 for payments of Rs 75,000 and above. Essential and thin-margin sectors -- railways, telecom, insurance, fuel and agricultural inputs -- will pay a flat MDR of Rs 5 per transaction above Rs 2,000. Payments into mutual funds, securities and through stockbrokers and dealers will attract 0.02 per cent MDR, also capped at Rs 300. Person-to-person (P2P) transfers -- which make up 37 per cent of UPI's transaction volume and 70 per cent of its transaction value -- will continue to

75% traders may avoid UPI levy; ‘No UPI Day’ on Oct 2; banks to stay open on Sunday & more

According to NPCI MD and CEO Dilip Asbe, around three-fourths of India’s more than 60 million digital payment-accepting merchants have never recorded a transaction above ₹2,000 and are insulated from

UPI MDR decision purely professional, no external pressure: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has rejected as "absolutely baseless" allegations by the Opposition that the decision to levy a 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on specified UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 was taken under external pressure, saying it was a professional decision by the payment ecosystem. Talking to PTI, Sitharaman said the decision was completely professional, and it was taken jointly by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), payment banks and merchant banks, and not imposed by the government. She rubbished the Opposition's allegations that the government had yielded to foreign pressure, saying the MDR was not a tax and would not accrue to the government. "Absolutely baseless. And I totally deny it," she said when asked about Opposition allegations that the decision on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) MDR was taken under external pressure, particularly from the US. The Finance Minister said the Opposition was "searching for issues" and makin

UPI MDR is not a tax, won't mean extra cost for customers: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the charge on specified merchant transactions above ₹2,000 will be borne within the payments ecosystem, while UPI payments by customers will remain free

Keep AI tied to verified data, says Mospi secretary Saurabh Garg

Mospi Secretary Saurabh Garg said data should flow freely across ministries and states, while AI-generated inferences must remain grounded in verified and validated sources

A better way to fund UPI

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

Datanomics: PSBs lead among UPI senders, private banks top receivers

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

Best of BS Opinion: Modest charges will enable healthy growth of UPI

Today's Best of BS Opinion weighs UPI's funding model, freight corridor gains, India's AI strategy, Delhi's student housing crisis and J S Deepak's memoir

Trade bodies call for 'No UPI Day' on October 2 to protest MDR levy

Business associations plan a No UPI Day on October 2 to protest the 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate set to apply to UPI merchant payments above Rs 2,000 from October 15

HDFC Bank eyes digital rupee for rewards, allowances, in-flight payments

Bank is developing digital rupee gift vouchers, corporate payouts and offline payments on flights, while integrating its CBDC wallet with BHIM for merchant payments

What Makes A Founder Worth Backing? Kavita Gupta On AI, FOMO & Investing | Manager’s Mantra

In this episode of Manager’s Mantra, venture capitalist Kavita Gupta discusses how investors judge founders, why experience can matter more than degrees, and what she looks for before writing a cheque

UPI's 10th birthday party

All marketers know that offering something 'free' can act as a customer magnet. This has fascinated behavioural economists

All about political capital

A fee on UPI transactions is economically logical, but it reflects the govt's evolving approach to one of its key political constituencies

Let's not fritter away UPI gains

The benefits of keeping it free far outweigh the costs

Govt should retain zero-fee UPI for few more years: NITI Aayog's former VC

NITI Aayog's former vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar on Monday suggested the government to continue with zero-fee UPI transactions for at least a few more years until the currency-to-GDP ratio shows some tendency to decline, and then review the situation. Kumar told PTI that he is not in favour of charging any fee from merchants for using UPI for any transaction value, and the government should treat it as a public good with extensive positive externalities. "Their overall benefits well far outweigh the cost of Rs 20,000 crore that the public exchequer has to bear for maintaining the UPI infrastructure. "...so let's continue with zero-fee UPI transactions for at least a few more years until the currency-to-GDP ratio shows some tendency to decline," he said. While 96 per cent of unit transactions are less than Rs 2,000, it is estimated that nearly 66 per cent of transactions by value are above this level. "This presents a very significant opportunity for transactions to shift back to cash

UPI Above Rs 2,000: Why Charge If Only 4% Are Affected? | Rohit Mahajan

In this episode of Manager's Mantra, Rohit Mahajan, Founder and CEO of Plutos ONE, discusses the debate around UPI and MDR, and how AI is making it easier for people to build new products

UPI MDR: These stocks could be the winners | New UPI charges | Digital payments

NPCI’s new 0.4% MDR on select UPI merchant payments opens up a new revenue pool for payment companies. Here’s what brokerages estimate for Paytm and Pine Labs.

UPI pads up at the crease: From free play to revenue with new MDR regime

The payments system is set to get a big leg-up with the pricing on UPI

The ₹1-lakh question: When does a small UPI merchant stop being 'small'?

Merchants receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month in eligible UPI QR payments remain outside the new MDR regime, but repeated breaches can trigger reclassification to P2M

MDR unlikely to trigger shift back to cash: RBI Deputy Governor S C Murmu

RBI Deputy Governor S C Murmu says MDR will help the payments ecosystem recover costs, while cash continues to retain a significant role as a store of value