The Indian Union Finance Ministry has dispelled any rumours that the government could impose fees on UPI by announcing that no decision has been made in this regard.
“UPI is a digital public good with immense convenience for the public & productivity gains for the economy. There is no consideration in Govt to levy any charges for UPI services. The concerns of the service providers for cost recovery have to be met through other means,” the finance ministry said in a statement on its official Twitter handle.
Discussion Paper on UPI Charges released by RBI
The government announced financial assistance for the ecosystem of digital payments last year, and the finance ministry further stated in a following tweet that it will do so again this year.
This week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a discussion paper on “Charges in Payment Systems,” which triggered a flurry of rumours about the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). A poll asking readers’ opinions about the idea of charging a small fee for utilising UPI was included in the article. The government has maintained its UPI policy as being cost-free since January 2020.
Feedback on the matter and whether to subsidise the expenses associated with enabling UPI transactions are requested in the aforementioned RBI report. The discussion paper also asked for opinions on the scope and makeup of any potential UPI fees.
