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UPI Charges News: MDR is a fee that banks typically charge merchants for processing payments instantly.
Fin Ministry denies claims that MDR will be charged on high-ticket transactions soon.
UPI Charges News: Rumours on social media have been swirling that the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) might become more expensive due to the imposition of the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on high-value transactions. Since its inception, UPI, the real-time payment service, has remained free, which is the reason for its popularity in the country.
The Finance Ministry has strongly denied these claims, labelling them as false, baseless, and misleading. It emphasised that such speculations create unnecessary confusion and fear among the public. The government remains dedicated to promoting digital payments through UPI.
This official clarification comes after several online reports suggested that MDR would be applied to large UPI transactions.
Speculation and claims that the MDR will be charged on UPI transactions are completely false, baseless, and misleading.Such baseless and sensation-creating speculations cause needless uncertainty, fear and suspicion among our citizens.
The Government remains fully committed…
— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) June 11, 2025
What Is MDR?
MDR is a fee that banks typically charge merchants for processing payments instantly. Previously, merchants paid an MDR fee of 1 per cent of the total transaction value on card payments. However, in 2020, the government waived these charges for debit cards to encourage digital transactions.
MDR is still applicable on most credit card transactions. Rates vary between 1% to 3% depending on the card type, transaction size, and merchant category.
Record UPI Transactions In May
UPI is the most used payment transaction platform in the country as of now, being managed by National Payment Corporation of India.
In May, UPI processed an impressive 18.68 billion transactions. In monetary terms, these transactions amounted to Rs 25.14 lakh crore, up from Rs 23.95 lakh crore in April. This marks a 33 per cent year-on-year increase in transaction volume compared to the 14.03 billion transactions in the same month last year.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
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