UPI Payments to Remain Free of Charge, Finance MINISTRY GIVES CLARIFICATION

The use of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has increased rapidly in the last few years in the country. The central government is not considering re -implementing the merchant discount rate (MDR) on these transactions. The Finance Ministry has given this information. The ministry has said that UPI will remain a low cost platform for the digital payments.

Recently a media report states that the government has more value Upi Zero MDR is reviewed again on payments. This report said that MDR is being considered to apply on transactions worth more than Rs 3,000. A report by the NDTV Profit quoted sources who are aware of the case as saying that a proposal is being considered to allow MDR on more value UPI transactions.

A senior official had said that last week, a meeting between the Prime Minister’s Office, Department of Financial Services and Department of Economic Affairs was considered to change the policy. However, sources have said that the government has no plans to implement MDR on low -value transactions. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates UPI, plans to add 20 to 30 crore new users for UPI. Its retail users have exceeded 45 crores.

UPI’s popularity increases rapidly and India’s contribution to digital transactions in the world is also increasing. A recent PWC report reported that in the last 12 years, retail digital payments have increased by about 90 times. NPCI’s plan also includes increasing UPI features. In the second half of the previous year, the value of transactions was increased to Rs 198 lakh crore with the use of mobile phones. This is an increase of about 30 percent on a year-on-year basis. It has an increased stake of UPI transactions. NPCI extended the volume limit for these transactions for two years. Apart from this, it was allowed to provide UPI services for all users of WhatsApp.