The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has postponed the introduction of merchant fees on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network. The rollout, originally scheduled for October 15, is now delayed until after the Diwali festival.
The proposed policy included a 0.4% fee on eligible merchant transactions exceeding ₹2,000, which is approximately $21. The decision to delay follows significant pushback from retailers and petrol pump operators, who threatened to stop accepting UPI payments.
NPCI previously planned to exempt payments of ₹2,000 or less and small merchants receiving under ₹100,000 monthly. Large transactions were to be capped at a fee of ₹300, or about $3, to help cover infrastructure and security costs.
The UPI system currently handles massive volumes, processing 24.07 billion transactions worth ₹29.37 trillion, or $305 billion, in September 2026 alone. Annual operating costs for the network are estimated at ₹200 billion, or $2.1 billion.
