BusinessBreaking
Archived — This article has been archived. The information may be outdated.
Bill opens door to MDR on larger UPI payments
The Hindu··11 Aug
Parliament cleared changes letting the government notify charges on specified electronic payments, ending a blanket zero merchant discount rate shield for UPI. Reports cite a possible 0.25 to 0.5 percent merchant fee on transactions above Rs 2,000. Officials say consumers stay free and only a limited high value merchant share would be touched if notified.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Everyday peer to peer UPI transfers are still described as free for users under the government stand.
- Larger merchants may later face a threshold based MDR if a notification follows the amended law.
- Small kirana style payments are repeatedly cited as remaining outside any future merchant fee.
What's Happening
- The Taxation and Other Laws Amendment Bill amends the Payment and Settlement Systems Act to allow notified charges.
- Media and officials have discussed a possible 0.25 to 0.5 percent MDR on higher value merchant UPI trades.
- The finance minister said no MDR framework is finalised and consumers would not pay a UPI transaction charge.
From Zero MDR Push to Sustainability Talk
- Zero MDR helped UPI scale after demonetisation as India promoted less cash payments.
- Banks and fintechs have long argued free merchant acceptance is hard to sustain at today's volumes.
- Once the legal power exists, any fee design will shape whether value migrates back toward cash or cards.
all-newstop-storiestrending-now
