UPI transactions to be charged? Ministry of Finance responds

New Delhi, Aug 22: The Central government has clarified its position on reports claiming that additional charges may be levied on UPI payments.

The Finance Ministry in a series of tweets on Sunday said that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a digital public good and there is no consideration to levy any charges for UPI services.

The ministry also said that the cost of recovery has to be met through other means and the government has provided financial support for the digital payments ecosystem in the country.

UPI is a digital public good with immense convenience for the public & productivity gains for the economy. There is no consideration in Govt to levy any charges for UPI services. The concerns of the service providers for cost recovery have to be met through other means, the Finance Ministry also said.

The ministry also said that the government had provided financial support for digital payments and has announced the same this year as well.

The clarification came amid speculations that UPI transactions may demand an additional charge in order to maintain the payment infrastructure. The Reserve Bank of India had also sought a feedback related to the subject as per a discussion payment paper released on August 17. Although the paper did not only relate to UPI transactions, it covered other digital payment modes such as Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system, and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system.

The paper sought the government to re-look at its zero-Merchant Discount Rate policy which remains absent on RuPay and UPI transactions. Through the fee levied on digital payments in the form of an MDR, service providers argue that they can improve systems.