UPI transactions over Rs 2,000 will be charged at 1.1 percent starting April 1

UPI payments in India are set to go under a major change starting April 1, 2023. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in a recent circular said that it will be charging all UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 at 1.1 percent starting April 1. Also Read: No PIN Needed: Google Pay, Paytm, And PhonePe Users Can Pay Using Fingerprint Or Face Scan

“Interchange at the rate of 1.1 percent of the transaction value/amount (using prepaid payment instruments, or PPI) shall apply to payments made to all online merchants, large merchants and small offline merchants having transaction value/amount greater than Rs 2,000,” NPCI wrote in a recent circular, as reported by The Economic Times. Also Read: Paytm Will Now Remind You About Your Pending Expenses! Here’s How To Use It

Who will be charged?

While that is true, not all UPI transactions will be charged at 1.1. The organisation has set some conditions under which this fee on UPI transactions will be charged. According to the circular, a Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) fees will be applied to all merchant transactions made via UPI above Rs 2,000. In other words, merchants who accept a payment of Rs 2,000 or above via PPI such as mobile wallets like Amazon Pay, Google Pay or Paytm, or gift cards will have to pay the fee. Also Read: Paytm Postpaid On UPI Launched: Here’s How To Activate The New Pay Later Option

On the other hand, the PPI issuer, companies such as Amazon Pay or Paytm, will have to pay 15 bps as an advanced wallet loading service charge to the remitter bank (or the bank that is attached to the wallet) for loading transaction values that are greater than Rs 2,000.

However, this charge will not be application on peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. This means that you or your friend will not have to pay this charge if you decide to split the bill and pay later. Also, peer-to-merchants (P2M) transactions between a bank account and a PPI wallet will also not be charged under the new regime.

Not all UPI transactions will be charged at 1.1 percent

According to a report by 91Mobiles, not all transactions above Rs 2,000 will be charged at 1.1 percent. Instead, it will be used as the upper limit for charging UPI transactions and the overall charge will vary between 0.5 percent to 1.1 percent. The report says that fuel purchases will be charged at 0.5 percent, while the UPI transactions made for insurance and mutual funds will be charged at 1 percent. Similarly, UPI transactions for telecom bills, post office purchases and education will be charged at 0.7 percent, and purchases made at supermarket will be charged at 0.9 percent.

While these changes will come into effect next month, NPCI will review the charges on or before September 30, 2023.