Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has explained the impact of the newly introduced merchant fees in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. It is stated that there will be no reduction in the volume of transactions due to this policy which will come into effect from October 15. It has been revealed that UPI has fixed a small fee only on eligible merchants because of the huge expenditure on UPI network maintenance, technical security and server infrastructure. He clarified that payments up to Rs.2,000 and transactions applicable to small traders will continue to be free. According to the government's estimates, even after the implementation of the new policy, around 96 percent of transactions will continue without any additional charges.The RBI Governor reiterated that no additional fee will be charged from the customers.
For more information on this article, please refer to Page Number 7, Abhyudayam E-paper dated 08-10-2026.
Small fee will not affect UPI transactions: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra's key comments
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has clarified that the new Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) to be imposed on business transactions will not have any negative impact on the number of UPI payments. This fee will be applicable on selected transactions above Rs.2,000 from October 15.
Text size
- 0.4 percent fee (up to a maximum of Rs.300) is applicable only on merchant payments worth more than Rs.2,000. For general users, UPI services are completely free for person-to-person (P2P) transfers as always
