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Centre notified UPI transactions up to ₹2,000 will remain protected from charges

15 Sept 2026

The Finance Ministry notified that UPI transactions up to ₹2,000, and all payments through RuPay debit cards, will remain protected from charges imposed by banks or payment-system providers. By limiting the protection to UPI payments up to ₹2,000, the notification creates regulatory space for a merchant discount rate (MDR) to be introduced on selected higher-value merchant UPI transactions, though no MDR has been prescribed yet.

Why it matters

This preserves charge-free small UPI payments while enabling a potential revenue mechanism to help fund the sustainability, security and upgrades of the digital payments ecosystem.

Ministry of Finance