The government will introduce charges on some Unified Payments Interface (UPI) merchant transactions from Oct 15, a decade after the popular instant payment system was launched.
Person-to-person transfers will remain free regardless of value, while merchant payments up to Rs2,000 (S$26.58) will also attract no charge.
For eligible merchant transactions above Rs2,000, a 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will apply, capped at Rs300 for payments of Rs75,000 or more. Small merchants receiving up to Rs100,000 lakh monthly through UPI will remain exempt.
Railway, fuel and telecommunications payments above Rs2,000 will attract a flat Rs5 fee.
The National Payments Corporation of India said the framework would support investment in cybersecurity, innovation, customer service and infrastructure resilience.
India had 554.9 million UPI users as of June, while transactions worth nearly Rs30 lakh crore (S$398.74 billion) were recorded in August.
Some experts fear merchant charges could encourage greater use of cash.
