Wire · founder news, decoded · technology
India Plans to End 6-Year Fee Waiver on UPI Payments
India is considering reintroducing a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of up to 0.5% on UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000 after six years of zero fees, affecting only 4% of transactions while exempting micro-enterprises with sub-₹15m annual turnover. The move aims to address a funding gap where current government subsidies cover only 11-14% of actual infrastructure costs.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Fintech. Wire is Fusion42's founder-focused intelligence feed: each story is connected to the funds and startups it names — every one with a live profile on Raise or Scout — so founders can follow the capital and the momentum behind the headline rather than just the headline itself. Wire analysis is one of the live surfaces Arthur reasons over.
The Wire takeaway
If you process UPI payments in India above ₹2,000, your customer acquisition cost just went up 0.5% on those transactions — but this creates an opening: sub-₹15m turnover micro-merchants are now permanently exempt, so you can build a compliance-lite product for that segment and own a market the incumbents must charge.
Read the full story at fintechgate.net →
Topics: Fintech · upi-mdr · payments-policy · merchant-fees · infrastructure-subsidy · india-fintech