India, Sept. 15 -- Merchants accepting UPI payments above Rs.2,000 will pay a fee for the first time from October 15, under a framework cleared by the UPI & services steering committee headed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the payments system.

Person-to-person transfers will be exempted from the charge, which has been set at 0.4% of the transaction value, and payments to certain categories will attract a flat Rs.5 fee irrespective of the amount.

The framework follows a change in law and a fresh rule under it. Parliament cleared the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on August 11, amending Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, to give the government the power to perm...