UPI ഇടപാടുകൾക്ക് ഇനി എംഡിആർ നിരക്ക്: പുതിയ മാറ്റങ്ങൾ അറിയേണ്ടതെല്ലാം ഒറ്റനോട്ടത്തിൽ

The Centre will impose Merchant discount rate (MDR) charge on select online transactions conducted under the unified payments interface (UPI) system in India from this month, as per the National Payments Council of India (NPCI).

The NPCI in an announcement has month said that MDR would apply on person-to-merchant (P2M) UPI payments, above a certain threshold, under a revised UPI MDR framework. The rules come into effect from mid-October and keeping UPI free for all customer (person-to-person / P2P) transactions.

The rules keep 95% of low-value UPI transactions below ₹2,000 and small merchant transactions (P2PM) completely free and proposes a new fund to support the expansion of UPI acceptance among small merchants.

Revised UPI MDR remains lower than charges associated with several other digital payment instruments, including credit cards, debit cards, and wallets, the FAQ document added.

According to the Ministry of Finance's press release, small merchants, including street vendors receiving up to ₹1 lakh per month through UPI QR codes under the Person-to-Person-Merchant (P2PM) category, will continue to enjoy zero MDR on all transactions. "This provision will protect street vendors, neighbourhood shops and other small businesses from additional payment costs," it added.

It added that overall, "UPI transactions accounting for 70% of (total) transaction value will remain completely outside the MDR framework".

According to the release, MDR is not a tax or charge collected by the government or NPCI, but will be distributed among payment ecosystem participants, including banks and payment application providers, to support the operation and continued expansion of the UPI ecosystem.

According to the NPCI's FAQ document, the MDR is distributed only among the UPI ecosystem to further invest into infrastructure resiliency, innovation, cybersecurity and customer service.

The finance ministry added that this framework has been introduced under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, following "detailed deliberations by the UPI Steering Committee on the applicable rates, operational arrangements and consumer safeguards".

"Revenue generated from larger merchant transactions will support banks, payment service providers and UPI application providers in expanding and improving payment infrastructure, including in rural and semi-urban areas," it added.