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India's UPI Fee Shake-up: What Changes and Why It Matters
The government said about 96% of person-to-merchant transactions will stay unaffected as the charge targets larger payments to help fund UPI infrastructure.
- On Tuesday, the National Payments Corporation of India announced a 0.4% fee on certain Unified Payments Interface merchant transactions above 2,000 rupees , effective October 15, 2026.
- India launched UPI a decade ago, processing 24.5 billion transactions in August; the system remained free for six years, but the government now claims the fee ensures long-term viability.
- The government stated "approximately 96% of person-to-merchant transactions will remain unaffected," with fees capped at 300 rupees for transactions exceeding 75,000 rupees and exclusions for small merchants.
- Shares of Indian payment firms rose on Wednesday as investors saw fresh revenue opportunities, though entrepreneur Ashneer Grover warned "a shopkeeper could simply refuse to accept a UPI payment of 2,000 rupees and ask you to pay entirely in cash."
- Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the decision as a consumer burden, while MobiKwik CEO Bipin Preet Singh defended it, saying the change "removes this tax burden and directly links the cost to large businesses which benefit from UPI.
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13 Articles
13 Articles
India's UPI ends free era with fee on large merchant payments
·London, United Kingdom
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left1Leaning Right3Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Right
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Right
50% Right
L 17%
C 33%
R 50%
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