New Delhi: The Union government has directed service providers not to collect any additional fee for online money transfers made through UPI up to Rs 2,000.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that when people make payments of Rs 2,000 or less using UPI or RuPay debit cards, charging any extra fee is prohibited. It added that no bank or financial institution should collect any charge from customers, either directly or indirectly, for such transactions.
The government did not clarify whether charges would apply to UPI transactions above Rs 2,000.
The report also noted that during the Parliament session that ended on August 13, amendments were made to a provision under the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Following this, the government said that the UPI and Services Steering Committee under the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) would decide on charges.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticised the move, alleging that the government had “quietly opened a path” to levy fees on UPI, potentially for transactions above Rs 2,000. He argued that while such transactions may be only 5% by volume, they account for nearly 65% of the total value, and warned that any fee on merchants could ultimately be passed on to customers through higher prices.
