Now Reading: GTRI urges India to resist US pressure on UPI policy
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GTRI urges India to resist US pressure on UPI policy
The Lok Sabha has passed a bill allowing the government to permit banks and payment providers to charge for UPI and other notified electronic payments. Charges have not been imposed. The move…
The Story in Brief
The Lok Sabha has passed a bill allowing the government to permit banks and payment providers to charge for UPI and other notified electronic payments. Charges have not been imposed. The move follows criticism of India’s digital-payment framework in the US Trade Representative’s 2026 trade barriers report, according to GTRI.
The trade think tank said India should preserve UPI’s policy independence and data-localisation rules. It argued that zero merchant discount rates helped consumers and small businesses, but suggested alternatives such as budgetary support, cross-subsidies and fees for high-turnover merchants. GTRI said any charges should reflect operating costs, rather than respond to US trade complaints or benefit foreign card networks.
The Indian Opinion
Two easy narratives should be resisted: that Washington alone drove the bill, or that every UPI charge would destroy digital payments. The source establishes a legal option, not a new fee, and GTRI itself accepts that the system needs funding for security, servers and fraud control. The real test is any future notification: who pays, how much, and whether small merchants remain protected.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
