India’s National Payments Corporation postponed a planned merchant discount rate for some Unified Payments Interface transactions, according to reports citing an NPCI statement on 13 October. The 0.4% fee would have applied to eligible person-to-merchant payments above Rs2,000. It will not begin on 15 October as previously planned. NPCI said implementation would start immediately after Diwali on a date to be notified.
The change preserves the existing cost structure through the festival trading period. Reuters and Business Standard reported the decision separately after earlier coverage had described a delay as only under consideration. The confirmed statement therefore marks a material step beyond the prior conditional reports. A final calendar date was not included.
MERCHANT COSTS REMAIN DEFERRED
The planned charge concerns merchant payments rather than person-to-person transfers. Its 0.4% rate and Rs2,000 threshold make the decision particularly relevant to larger retail transactions. Payment companies and merchants had been preparing for the 15 October start, while the deferral leaves the immediate treatment unchanged.
UPI has become a central part of India’s retail-payments infrastructure, linking banks, payment applications and merchants. A merchant discount rate determines how acceptance costs are distributed across that network. The timing decision does not itself settle how participants will ultimately pass on or absorb the charge.
NEW EFFECTIVE DATE AWAITS NOTICE
NPCI’s statement resolves whether the fee would begin before Diwali but leaves the precise post-festival commencement date open. Banks, payment providers and merchants will need the forthcoming notice to complete operational and customer-communication changes. The public UPI circular index did not expose a separate notice containing additional implementation terms at the research cutoff.
The next material milestone is NPCI’s notification of the effective date and any accompanying technical instructions. Until then, the postponement should be treated as a timing change, not a withdrawal of the fee. Market participants will also watch whether the final notice changes the transaction scope or threshold.