New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- UPI payments for fuel, railway tickets and three other key services will attract a flat Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of Rs.5 on transactions above Rs.2,000 from October 15, under the new framework announced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The other sectors covered by the fixed charge are telecommunications, insurance and agricultural inputs.

The new MDR framework, announced by NPCI on September 15, introduces charges on select Person-to-Merchant (P2M) UPI transactions while keeping smaller payments and transactions covered under the zero-MDR framework for small merchants free. The Rs.5 charge applies to the merchant transaction and is not an additional amount that customers are required to pay...