Mumbai, Sept. 24 -- The risk of consumers bearing the cost of UPI Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges is limited to around 10 per cent of the overall value on which MDR is collected, NPCI Managing Director and CEO Dilip Asbe said, adding that a majority of merchants are unlikely to pass the charges on to customers.

Speaking at the 13th SBI Banking & Economics Conclave 2026, Asbe said around 75 per cent of the overall UPI transaction value is outside the charging framework and therefore has no impact from the MDR policy.

He said that of the approximately Rs 30 lakh crore in UPI transaction value, merchant payments account for around Rs 6-7 lakh crore, with the charging framework primarily covering transactions above Rs 2,000.

"75 per c...