The Modi administration has stated that it has no plans to introduce fees and that UPI transactions would continue to be free.
For UPI services, the Finance Ministry would not charge.
The fact that UPI is a digital public utility that helps the populace and the economy is one of the causes.
This coincides with the Indian government’s desire for an ecosystem for digital payments.
The Indian government has made it plain that it has no intentions to charge for UPI services, according to the Ministry of Finance. The Finance Ministry replied to rumors that UPI payments might incur additional fees on August 21. It was made clear that because UPI is a digital public utility that improves the functioning of the economy and facilitates transactions for the general public, the government will not impose an additional fee for UPI payments.
Incentives were offered to payment service providers last year, and this year, further incentives have been revealed to aid the nation’s transition to digital, according to the ministry. On August 17, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a request for ideas for how to charge for digital transactions.
When questioned about the Return on Investment (RoI) for service providers, the Finance Ministry said that they would need to find alternative revenue streams.
However, according to the Finance Ministry, “there would be no charge for UPI transactions.” According to the Ministry, concessions were made to the service providers in the ecosystem for digital payments in 2021, and in 2022, they received even more support. According to the Finance Ministry, “the government has announced it would do the same this year to encourage more people to utilize #DigitalPayments and promote affordable and user-friendly payment systems.” The government assisted in funding the #DigitalPayment ecosystem last year.
WHAT’S RBI’S TAKE ON THIS?
The RBI conducted a survey regarding fees for digital payment systems on Wednesday, August 17. The financial regulator added that if fees are to be paid by more individuals, they must be reasonable and competitive for the users. However, RBI reiterated that they haven’t made a decision in this area yet.
According to the RBI, those in charge of the payment systems should be paid enough to maintain them as well as to make investments in new tools, procedures, and systems. Even though there are alternative payment options like IMPS, NEFT, and debit cards, UPI has grown to include five crore merchants and 26 crore unique users in just six years.
