NPCI says customers won’t be charged for UPI transactions

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said that it has allowed the Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) or digital wallets to be a part of the interoperable UPI ecosystem. The organisation also clarified that the charge of 1.1 percent that will be levied on UPI transactions will not be paid by the customers. Furthermore, NPCI said that the ‘bank account to account transactions continue to remain free for Customers and Merchants’.

“Recent regulatory guidelines, the Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI Wallets) have been permitted to be part of interoperable UPI ecosystem. The interchange charges introduced are only applicable for the PPI merchant transactions and there is no charge to customers, and it is furthere clarified that there are no charges for the bank account to bank account-based UPI payments (i.e. normal UPI payments),” NPCI said in a statement.

“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,” the organisation added.

NPCI Press Release: UPI is free, fast, secure and seamless
Every month, over 8 billion transactions are processed free for customers and merchants using bank-accounts@EconomicTimes @FinancialXpress @businessline @bsindia @livemint @moneycontrolcom @timesofindia @dilipasbe pic.twitter.com/VpsdUt5u7U

— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) March 29, 2023

What is NPCI talking about?

For the unversed, NPCI, in a recent circular said, UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 at 1.1 percent starting April 1. “Interchange at the rate of 1.1 percent of the transaction value/amount (using prepaid payment instruments, or PPI) shall apply to payments made to all online merchants, large merchants and small offline merchants having transaction value/amount greater than Rs 2,000,” the circular said.

This fee will not be charged on all UPI transactions above Rs 2,000. Instead, it be charged from merchants who accept a payment of Rs 2,000 or above via PPI such as mobile wallets like Amazon Pay, Google Pay or Paytm. Also, not all UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 will be charged at 1.1 percent. Instead, it will vary between 1.1 percent to 0.5 percent. For instance, fuel purchases will be charged at 0.5 percent, while supermarket purchases will be charged at 0.9 percent.

However, some messages on the social media suggested that all the UPI transactions will be charged starting April. But now, NPCI has issued a statement clarifying that these charges will not be paid by the customers.