RBI Governor 'New UPI charges unlikely to impact transaction volumes'

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Wednesday that the new merchant charges on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions are a small fee that will not adversely impact the momentum of the country’s digital payments.

“MDR decision has already been taken. As of now, we do not see any drop in volumes. I don’t personally think a small fee will have any impact on UPI volumes,” Malhotra said in response to a media query at a press conference here after the RBI’s monetary policy



announcement.

The RBI Governor’s remarks come about a week before the new payment framework related to UPI transactions goes live. From October 15 onwards, a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.4 per cent will apply to select person-to-merchant UPI transactions exceeding Rs 2,000.

The government has stressed that the new UPI framework has no impact on any person-to-person transactions. UPI will continue to remain completely free for all person-to-person transactions, irrespective of the amount transferred.