Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on 7 October that a small fee will not have a major impact on UPI volumes. "As of now, we do not see any drop in volumes. And I don't personally think that a small fee will have a major impact on the volumes," he told reporters after the monetary policy announcement. The 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate applies to person-to-merchant UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 from 15 October.
UPI averaged 802 million transactions a day in September 2026, the last full month before the charge applies.
The Supreme Court directed the Centre, the Reserve Bank of India and NPCI to file affidavits explaining the factual basis for the charge.