UPI Isn’t Free Anymore? Here’s the Truth! 🚨🤯

Описание: UPI isn’t becoming “paid” for everyone. There’s a new MDR structure for certain merchant transactions, but the important question is who actually pays it?

MDR, or Merchant Discount Rate, is the fee charged to a merchant when they accept a digital payment. Cards have had MDR for years, while UPI has had 0 MDR since 2020.

Under the new structure:
• Person-to-person UPI payments: Still free, with no transaction limit
• Merchant payments up to ₹2,000: No MDR
• Merchant payments above ₹2,000: 0.4% MDR, capped at ₹300 per transaction
• Railways, telecom, insurance, fuel and utility bills: ₹5 flat charge for certain transactions above ₹2,000
• Mutual funds and broker payments: 0.02%
• Auto SIPs: No charge
• Street vendors and small shops receiving under ₹1 lakh/month through UPI: No MDR

So a ₹3,000 merchant payment would mean ₹12 MDR, while a ₹50,000 payment would mean ₹200. For a ₹1 lakh transaction, the cap means the MDR is ₹300 instead of ₹400.

And according to the Finance Ministry, around 96% of merchant transactions will remain unaffected. Most importantly, the MDR is charged to the merchant, not directly to you. Under the government’s rules, merchants cannot pass this MDR on to customers, and UPI apps cannot charge you a platform fee for it.

The reason for the change? NPCI estimates that running UPI costs around ₹20,000 crore a year, while government incentives have ranged from ₹1,389 crore to ₹3,631 crore annually.

Comment ZERO1 and I’ll send you the official documentation on these changes.