Fake news alert: UPI transactions over Rs. 2000 will not attract 1.1% fee
NPCI clarified bank account-to-account UPI transactions will remain free for customers and merchants.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 30 March 2023 5:46 AM GMT
(Source: Twitter/@INCKerala)
On 29 March, several social media users and media outlets claimed that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is no longer free and a 1.1 percent fee will be charged to all its customers for transactions of Rs. 2000 or above.
(Source: Twitter/@INCKerala)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) tweeted a clarification on 29 March. In a press release, it said bank account-to-account UPI transactions will remain free for customers and merchants.
It further clarified that interchange charges introduced are only applicable for Prepaid payment instruments (PPI) merchant transactions.
PIB Fact Check, in a thread, called out media outlets such as India Today, TV9 Gujarati, Business Today, and Navbharat Times and clarified that normal UPI transactions would not attract any charges.
Paytm also took to Twitter to dismiss the misleading claim. It said no customers would have to pay any charges for making payments from UPI either from the bank account or PPI/Paytm Wallet.
Hence, we conclude that the claim that UPI transactions over Rs. 2000 will attract a 1.1 percent fee is misleading.
