UPI Payment Rules Changing From 1 April 2023 --Read New Guidelines

Will customers have to pay interchange charges on on unified payment interface (UPI) transactions above Rs 2,000? Read what NCPI said.

New Delhi: In a recent circular, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had said that users will have to pay 1.1 per cent of the transaction value if they are doing transaction of over Rs 2000 for using PPIs on UPI. The new charge was to be applicable from 1st April 2023 while using the Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs).

Clarifying it further on Tuesday, the NPCI has said that the interchange charges introduced are only applicable for the PPI merchant transactions and there is no charge to customers.

"Recent regulatory guidelines, the Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI Wallets) have been permitted to be part of interoperable UPI ecosystem. In view of this NPCI has now permitted the PPI wallets 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 further clarified that there are no charges for the bank account to bank account based UPI payments (i.e. normal UPI payments)," said an NCPI release.

The UPI new guideline means that if you pay directly from your bank, you will not have to pay any fees. However, if you top up your UPI with some other app and then you proceed towards further payment, such payments exceeding Rs 2000 will get charged at 1.1 percent.

It further added that 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.

NCPI has further added that in the recent times, UPI has emerged as preferred mode of digital payment by offering free, fast, secure and seamless experience. 

"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% of total UPI transactions. These Bank account-to-account transactions continue to remain free for Customers and Merchants," NCPI added.