No charge for RuPay credit card use on UPI for transaction up to THIS amount, confirms NPCI

A recent circular of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said that there will be no charge for RuPay credit card use on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for transactions up to Rs 2,000 in line with the RBI direction.

According to the circular released by NPCI on October 4, 2022, “During credit card on-boarding on the apps, the device binding, and UPI PIN setting process shall include and be construed as customer consent for credit card enablement for all types of transactions.”

RuPay credit card has been operational for the last four years, and all major banks are enabled and are issuing incremental cards for both commercial and retail segments.

For international transaction enablement, the existing process from the app will apply to credit cards too, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said in the circular.

Nil Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) would apply for this category up to the transaction amount less than and equal to Rs 2,000, it noted.

MDR is the cost paid by a merchant to a bank for accepting payment from their customers via credit or debit cards every time a card is used for payments in their stores. The merchant discount rate is expressed in the percentage of the transaction amount.

"This circular is applicable from the issuance date and members are requested to take note and bring the contents of this circular to the notice of the relevant stakeholders," it said.

"The basic objective of linking credit cards to UPI is to provide a customer with a wider choice of payments. Currently, UPI is linked through debit cards to savings accounts or current accounts," Reserve Bank Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar had earlier said.

As per the circular, UPI apps would ensure complete transparency on transactions made by a customer using a credit card, by means of easily accessible transaction history and clearly visible user interface while making the payment.

Credit card issuers and apps will send appropriate notifications or communications to the customer during each event of the credit card lifecycle for such transactions, as per the circular.

The step will promote the homegrown payment gateway and encourage wider acceptance of RuPay cards.

It further said there is a need to maintain a separate mobile number attached to an add-on card.