UPI MDR: Can Rs 6,000 be split into three Rs 2,000 payments? No daily cap
The NPCI framework and the FAQs issued with it do not stipulate that multiple payments relating to a single bill must be clubbed together. Such a restriction, if in place, could prevent businesses from breaking up larger payments into multiple transactions of Rs 2,000 or less.
Effective October 15, 2026, merchants receiving UPI payments exceeding Rs 2,000 face a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.4%. Despite this, the NPCI has not announced a separate daily limit for repeated UPI payments to the same merchant, potentially allowing businesses to circumvent the charge by making multiple transactions of Rs 2,000 or less.
Currently, there is no daily cap on UPI transactions. Merchants can avoid the Rs 24 charge on a single payment of Rs 6,000 by dividing the payment into three separate transactions of Rs 2,000 each, given that each transaction falls within the free limit. The NPCI framework permits this arrangement, as long as both the merchant and customer agree to multiple payments.
Additionally, businesses might distribute their invoices across various channels, such as different bank accounts, QR codes, or payment service providers, to remain under the Rs 1 lakh monthly threshold for small merchants. Another workaround involves directing business payments to personal UPI IDs, although this could be seen as misclassification and lead to reclassification of the account by banks or payment providers.
The NPCI anticipates some merchants exploring these workarounds but does not foresee them becoming widespread or persistent in the long term.
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.
