Merchant charges for UPI soon? LS passes Bill allowing banks to levy fees
This empowers the government to allow banks and other payment service providers to impose charges on transactions conducted through the unified payments interface (UPI) and other electronic payment modes that may be notified.
The Lok Sabha has passed a Bill that would allow banks and payment service providers to levy merchant discount rates (MDR) on UPI transactions, marking a potential shift from the current zero-charge digital payments model in India. The amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, empowers the government to notify electronic payment modes and categories of transactions that may be subject to MDR.
Industry participants have long advocated for the introduction of MDR, while the government has refrained from making a decision. The proposed threshold for MDR on UPI transactions is set at Rs 2,000, which is expected to affect only a small fraction of transactions, primarily high-value purchases.
Written by urgent.news from Times of India's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
