Pai Says UPI MDR Will Fund Digital Infrastructure Upgrades

TV Mohandas Pai supports charging a small fee on some UPI payments.

He says 96 per cent of UPI transactions will not be affected.

Person-to-person payments will remain free.

Payments below Rs 2,000 will also remain exempt.

A 0.4 per cent fee will apply to eligible merchant payments above Rs 2,000.

Pai says this fee is not a tax.

He compares it to the processing fees paid by merchants when people use credit cards.

He says banks and payment companies have paid large costs to keep UPI running.

The money from the fee could help upgrade the systems as UPI payments increase.