{
  "id": 9558924,
  "title": "UPI MDR Needed To Fight Cyber Threats With AI: NPCI Chief Dilip Asbe",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/upi-mdr-needed-to-fight-cyber-threats-with-ai-npci-chief-dilip-asbe",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-24T11:38:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Inc42",
    "slug": "inc42",
    "url": "https://inc42.com/buzz/upi-mdr-needed-to-fight-cyber-threats-with-ai-npci-chief-dilip-asbe/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "UPI operator NPCI’s MD and CEO Dilip Asbe spoke at the 13th SBI Banking & Economics Conclave 2026, defending the introduction of merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on UPI. Asbe stated that the tools available to attackers are more powerful than those used within the payments ecosystem, and AI investment is crucial to protect systems and maintain user trust. NPCI’s MDR framework, effective from October 15, imposes a 0.4% MDR on select UPI merchant payments over ₹2,000, capped at ₹300 per transaction. Certain categories, such as fuel, railways, telecom, insurance, and capital markets, have lower or fixed charges. NPCI expects the new MDR framework to generate ₹13,000 Cr to ₹15,000 Cr in the first year. Asbe noted that the cost of maintaining and expanding the payments infrastructure has increased, with server hardware costs rising from ₹20 Lakh to nearly ₹1 Cr in just a year. He also highlighted that the growth of digital payments penetration has slowed due to insufficient investment. PhonePe and Pine Labs announced plans to hire more personnel and deploy more devices to scale digital payments, citing the MDR framework as a reason for their investments. NPCI's Asbe emphasized that the new MDR policy aims to protect consumers and small merchants from additional costs, with 96% of UPI transactions by volume and 75% by value remaining outside the charging framework. Merchants processing over ₹1,000 Cr in digital payments are expected to contribute about 80% of total MDR collections, while another 10% will come from merchants handling more than ₹1 Cr in annual digital payments.",
  "summary": "A market-driven economic model for UPI is essential to fund escalating cybersecurity, scalability, and infrastructure costs, UPI operator NPCI’s MD…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}