UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 to be chargeable from April 1? NPCI clarifies

UPI Transaction Charges: Several reports on Wednesday claimed that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions made through Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) of more than Rs 2,000 will be charged up to 1.1 per cent from April 1, 2023. Following this, people started wondering whether they will be charged for making payments from April 1 onwards. However, the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has now clarified that there is no charge to customers.

"Traditionally, the most preferred method of UPI transactions is linking the Bank account in any UPI-enabled app for making payments which contributes over 99.9 per cent of total UPI transactions. These Bank account-to-account transactions continue to remain free for Customers and Merchants," the NPCI said in a statement.

What is the new rule?

As per the rule, the interchange charges are applicable only for Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI). This means an interchange fee of 1.1 per cent will be applicable only when the UPI transactions are made via PPIs such as wallets and credit cards. 

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"The interchange charges introduced are only applicable for the PPI merchant transactions and there is no charge to customers, and it is further clarified that there are no charges for the bank account to bank account-based UPI payments (i.e. normal UPI payments)," the statement reads.

Contribution of PPI in total UPI transactions

Also, the contribution of PPI in total UPI transactions is less than 1 per cent. 

With this addition to UPI, the customers will have the choice of using any bank accounts, RuPay Credit card and prepaid wallets on UPI-enabled apps.