Mumbai, March 29 -- Parliamentarians are recommending charging of fees for transactions on India's real-time payments network, a move that could change the government's 'free-for-all' policy. A new committee report suggests a tiered revenue model is necessary to sustain the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as budgetary sops fail to cover rising maintenance costs.

The proposal marks a significant moment for a system that processed about Rs.300 trillion in 2025. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has supported UPI as a public good, the infrastructure behind it, managed by banks and fintechs, is weighed down by a massive funding gap.

Industry participants, who have long sought a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), view the parliame...