UPI fee claim denied; zero-charge regime remains unchanged for transactions up to ₹2,000
BJP leader Amit Malviya has called claims of a 0.5% UPI fee above ₹2,000 false. The clarification points to no immediate change in consumer or merchant charges, though legislation leaves scope for future MDR rates on notified payment modes through NPCI’s framework.
What happened
BJP leader Amit Malviya denied claims of a 0.5% UPI charge above ₹2,000. The notification preserves zero charges up to ₹2,000, while an enabling law allows
Key facts
- 0.5%
- ₹2,000
- ₹25 on ₹5,000
- ₹50 on ₹10,000
- ₹1,389 crore in FY22
- ₹2,210 crore in FY23
- ₹3,631 crore in FY24
- ₹2,196.21 crore in FY2025-26
- ₹2,000 crore budgeted for FY27
Why this matters
No near-term fee shift changes partnership economics, though payment-platform deals should preserve flexibility for any NPCI-led MDR framework.
What to watch
- Official gazette notification altering UPI charges, MDR treatment or the ₹2,000 threshold.
- NPCI circulars on interchange, merchant discount rate, PPI-UPI, credit-on-UPI or commercial-payment pricing.
- RBI or Finance Ministry statements on UPI subsidy sustainability, payment-system cost recovery or merchant acceptance incentives.
- Acquirer and payment-aggregator repricing notices, especially for high-value, credit-linked or business-use UPI transactions.
- Merchant reports of payment-provider surcharges, settlement-fee changes or revised QR acceptance contracts.
- Maintain UPI acceptance and avoid changing customer-facing payment messaging or checkout pricing based on the denied fee claim.
- Track NPCI circulars, Ministry of Finance notifications, RBI communications and payment-acquirer updates for any notified MDR, transaction threshold or merchant-category change.
- Model payment-cost exposure by UPI share, average order value and merchant category; identify sensitivity if MDR is imposed above ₹2,000 or on selected use cases.
- Review payment-routing options and negotiate acquiring economics, QR deployment support and settlement terms before any formal rate framework takes effect.
- Prepare concise store, customer-care and marketplace-seller guidance confirming that no immediate UPI fee change applies under the current regime.