Extra Charges On UPI Transactions: We all use UPI payment mode. It has made our life easier to a great extent. Now we do not have to carry cash everywhere and there is no fear of running out of money at the time of need. For the past few days, a news was spreading very fast, in which it was being said that now the customer will have to pay some additional charges for every UPI payment. This fee will be decided according to the amount. Depending on the number of transactions you do, you will have to pay additional charges. But, will it really happen? Will the government now charge you on UPI payments as well? Let us know in detail.

In response to the questions, the Ministry of Finance said that the government is not considering any charges on UPI services. And, UPI service providers will have to use other means to recover the cost. UPI is a digital public commodity with immense convenience for the public and productivity gains for the economy. The government is not going to take any extra charge on UPI payments. The government also provided financial assistance to the Digital Payment Ecosystem last year. And, this year also it is said to help. The government will further encourage people to use digital payment modes.

Let us tell you that RBI has not given any instructions to levy additional charges on UPI payment. The government has made a zero-fee framework mandatory for UPI transactions with effect from January 1, 2020. This means that charges in UPI are zero for customers and merchants alike. RBI said in its 'Discussion Paper on Fees in Payment Systems'. Keeping in mind that the purpose of this discussion paper is to elicit general feedback, some questions have been included as to which approach should be adopted." Noting that UPI as a fund transfer system is similar to IMPS. Therefore, it can be argued that the charges in UPI should be same as the charges in IMPS for fund transfer transactions. A tier of charges may be levied depending on the band of different amount.”