70% users say will stop using UPI if fees levied

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

UPI users said they will stop using the application if transaction fees are levied on the same, said a survey of 34,000 respondents by Local Circles, a pollster on governance and public issues.
UPI recorded a transaction value of over ₹16 lakh crore in February 2024, up from over ₹12 lakh crore in February last year, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The most common example of a transaction fee is the ₹20 fee by IRCTC for UPI payments.
Fintech companies urged finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to raise issues about implementing a merchant discount rate (MDR) in UPI transactions. «The MDR on UPI payments has been a long standing demand from the fintech industry, asserting they don't generate revenue from such transactions. MDR is the rate charged to a merchant for payment processing services on various payment instruments», said the report.

The Reserve Bank of India released a discussion paper in August 2022 on a tiered structure charge on UPI payments based on different amount bands. The finance ministry later clarified that there was no proposal to levy convenience fees for UPI transactions.
«Several other payment gateways have also been reported to be charging a transaction fee for UPI transactions from merchants, some of who end up passing the same to the consumer,» the report said.