Consumers Will Not Pay UPI Charge, Says Sitharaman as Parliament Passes Amendment Bill

New Delhi: As parliament on Monday (August 10) passed an amendment Bill that would allow the government to levy merchant charges on some Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that “every Indian will continue to make this instant digital payment without paying a transaction charge”.

“Will consumers pay any UPI charge? No,” Sitharaman said Monday in the Rajya Sabha, which discussed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2026 and subsequently returned it to the Lok Sabha.

She clarified in her response to the discussion in the house that the amendment is an “enabling provision” and does not by itself introduce a merchant charge on UPI transactions. “It enables the government to specify, through notification, the electronic payment modes that will continue to receive statutory protection against charges,” she said.

Once parliament passes the amendment Bill, the UPI and services steering committee will decide whether a merchant discount rate should be levied and, if yes, its scope and structure, Sitharaman said.

“Will consumers pay any UPI charge? No. UPI has remained free for consumers since its launch, and every Indian will continue to make this instant digital payment without paying a transaction charge,” the minister said.

Her remarks come following consternation that the government could introduce a merchant charge on UPI transactions – which have become ubiquitous over the last half-decade and moved Rs 29.9 lakh crore last month alone – after the Bill is passed.

Its passage also comes against the background of Washington expressing its ‘concern’ over some aspects of UPI. The office of the US Trade Representative, who is America's top trade negotiator, wrote earlier this year of the “inability of US electronic payment services suppliers to participate in the UPI ecosystem, including credit transactions on UPI on a level playing field with RuPay”.

After the Lok Sabha passed the amendment Bill last week, Sitharaman's ministry on Saturday denied that “external influences” were behind the policy change. It is instead aimed at allowing more funding for UPI, “encouraging more companies to expand their operations” and moving the system away from “reliance on subsidies alone”, it said.

Writing in The Wire last week, Global Trade Research Institute founder Ajay Srivastava noted the need for a more sustainable approach to funding UPI but argued against a blanket merchant charge:

“… Financing the system does not automatically require a general merchant charge. Alternatives include targeted budgetary support, government incentives, charges on large commercial transactions, cross-subsidisation from financial services and narrowly designed fees applicable only to high-turnover merchants.”

He also urged the government not to give into US pressure and to retain its proposed 30% market cap for payment apps as well as its localisation demands for payment system data.

Before Sitharaman made her remarks on Monday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas had moved a statutory motion against the Bill. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured Indians that UPI would remain free, the MP for Kerala said, alleging that the current amendment “is a violation of the solemn assurance of the honourable prime minister”. He then walked out of the house.

Given that the amendment Bill is a money Bill, the Rajya Sabha's move to return it to the lower house on Monday means that it has cleared parliament.

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