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In the direction of strengthening Digital India, the government has once again made it clear that there is no proposal to impose any kind of fee on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based transactions. Giving a written reply on this issue in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that UPI will remain the easiest, safest, and free means of payment for the common people and businessmen of the country.

Does it run through NPCI?

Let us tell you that UPI transactions are operated through the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). In the year 2019, under the NPCI circular, banks were allowed to charge merchant discount rate (MDR) up to 0.30 percent, but later under the provisions of section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007, it was ensured that no fee of any kind will be charged from consumers or merchants on electronic payment methods specified in section 269SU of the Income Tax Act, 1961 - such as UPI and RuPay debit card.

The government has implemented a special incentive scheme from 2021-22 to 2024-25 to promote UPI and Rupay. During this period, incentive support of about ₹ 8,730 crore has been given to the ecosystem partners, so that the digital payment system continues to run without any interruption and its burden does not fall on the consumers.

The Minister of State for Finance told the full figure.

By the way, the Minister of State for Finance said that the popularity of UPI has reached record levels in the last few years. While only 92 crore transactions were recorded in the financial year 2017-18, this figure reached 18,587 crores in the financial year 2024-25. During this period, the value of UPI transactions increased from ₹ 1.10 lakh crore to ₹ 261 lakh crore. That is, in just 7 years, UPI recorded an annual average growth rate (CAGR) of 114 percent.

The government further said that in July 2025, UPI achieved another historic milestone. For the first time, more than 1,946.79 crore transactions were completed in a single month. This shows that now people in the country are preferring digital payments over cash for all kinds of small and big payments.

Complete data of the UPI payment

Not only UPI, but the entire digital payment ecosystem has also registered a lot of growth in the last few years. While the total digital transactions were 2,071 crores in the financial year 2017-18, this figure has reached 22,831 crores in 2024-25. That is, the use of digital payments continued to grow with a CAGR of 41 percent. During the same period, the value of digital transactions increased from ₹ 1,962 lakh crore to ₹ 3,509 lakh crore.

This statement of the Center has come at a time when there was a discussion on social media and various platforms that transaction charges may be imposed on UPI shortly. But the government has made it clear that common consumers will not have to pay any kind of fee, and UPI services will remain completely free.

The government made it clear.

The government believes that UPI has not only simplified the payment system, but has also brought the digital revolution to small shopkeepers, farmers, employees, and even rural areas. This is the reason why India has become one of the largest digital payment markets in the world today.

Overall, it is clear that in the coming years, UPI will not only remain the backbone of Digital India but will also strengthen economic transparency and financial inclusion.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Zee Business. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.