India ends free ride for larger transactions on its ubiquitous digital payments network

India will begin charging a 0.4% merchant fee on certain transactions made through its popular digital payments network, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), starting October 15. Until now, large transactions on the network, which is used by most Indians for daily transactions, were free. The fee will apply to transactions above ₹1,000 (approximately $13 USD) and ₹2,000 (approximately $26 USD) for international transactions. This move aims to increase revenue for banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the UPI network.