India, Aug. 28 -- With investors continuing to invest money into startups, new products entering the market and public-market activity picking up pace, August offered little sign of a slowdown in India's startup ecosystem. But for fintech, the month provided a clearer picture of where the industry could be headed next.

UPI was at the centre of the conversation. The government's move to create a framework that could allow merchant discount rates (MDR) on select UPI transactions revived a long-running debate over the sustainability of India's free-to-consumer payments infrastructure. While the final framework is yet to emerge, the Payments Council of India has reiterated that consumers and small merchants will remain protected from any MDR...