The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is planning to postpone the introduction of fees on high-value transactions processed over the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by several months.
The proposed levy was scheduled to take effect on 15 October. Citing an industry executive, Reuters reported that the implementation may now move to January 2027.
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The potential deferral was first reported by the Indian business news portal Moneycontrol, which stated that the NPCI received multiple requests from merchant associations, fintech firms, and payment service providers to delay the rollout.
The NPCI operates UPI, the dominant real-time payment network in India. Although a final decision on the deferment has not yet been issued, an official determination is expected in the coming days.
Electronic Payments International has reached out to the NPCI for clarification on the implementation schedule.
Last month, the NPCI announced plans to introduce a 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI transactions exceeding Rs2,000 ($20.80). The revenue generated from the levy is intended to fund investments in system resilience, technical infrastructure, cybersecurity, and customer support.
However, the initial 15 October rollout date coincides with India’s annual festive period. This window spans October through December and typically records a peak in retail spending.
According to the Reuters report, postponing the rollout would give payment processors time to upgrade their systems, avoid passing costs on to consumers, and reduce operational issues for merchants during the shopping season.
The UPI network currently has more than 500 million active users.
In August, Walmart-backed PhonePe and Alphabet-owned Google Pay processed approximately 80% of total transaction value across the platform.
