Government moves to enable MDR on UPI, RuPay debit payments to large merchants

A proposed amendment would remove the no-charge exemption for UPI and RuPay debit-card payments accepted by businesses with turnover above Rs 50 crore, potentially bringing MDR costs back for large marketplaces and retailers.

— Filed Mon, 3 Aug, 2026, 22:17 IST · Source Indian Express · Business · Updated

Finance Ministry proposes removing the no-charge exemption for UPI and RuPay debit-card payments by businesses above Rs 50 crore turnover, enabling MDR charges for large merchants including Amazon and Flipkart.

Why this matters

The proposal follows UPI's July scale-up, when it averaged 76.3 crore daily transactions and reached a record ₹29.88 lakh crore in monthly transaction value across 23.66 billion payments.

Retail-company signals are accelerating, up +230550% QoQ.