New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- The Centre will begin daily monitoring of the new merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI transactions from 15 October, seeking to ensure that banks and payment aggregators do not pass the charges on to consumers.

"The monitoring will focus on how banks, payment aggregators and other participants implement the new framework, particularly whether merchants bear the charges as envisaged or whether any part of the cost is transferred to consumers," a senior government official said.

The government does not expect the levy to drive users back to cash, saying only 4% of UPI transaction volume will be affected, the official added.

RuPay debit-card transactions, meanwhile, will remain free regardless of the transaction amou...