India, Sept. 20 -- A customer scans a QR code at a neighbourhood shop, enters a passcode and the payment is done. Similarly, a wholesaler pays a supplier, friends split a dinner bill, and consumers buy groceries, all without handling cash.

Over the past decade, the QR code has quietly become one of the most visible symbols of Digital India. But India's digital payments revolution is now entering a new phase.

From October 15, select high-value UPI payments will no longer be entirely free for merchants. Under the new framework, a 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) will apply to specified person-to-merchant UPI transactions above Rs.2,000. The charge has been capped at Rs.300 for transactions of Rs.75,000 and above. The new framework has be...