If the new scheme of the government is implemented, then shopping with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) can prove to be even more beneficial for you. Under this scheme, you will get a discount on payment through UPI, while those using credit cards may have to pay more money.
Three people associated with this matter told that the government is working on a scheme, which will directly pass on the cost benefits of UPI to the consumers. Officials of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs will soon meet industry stakeholders to take this scheme forward. So, if you are a UPI user, then this news is no less than a lottery for you.
Why does the shopkeeper suffer a loss on payment by credit card?
On making payment by credit card, the shopkeeper has to pay a fee of 2-3% (Merchant Discount Rate – MDR), which goes to the bank or payment companies (such as Visa, MasterCard). Most shopkeepers do not take this fee from the customer, but pay it from their own pockets.
This means, if you buy goods worth ₹100 using a credit card, the shopkeeper gets only ₹98 (₹2 is deducted as a fee). Whereas, in UPI, this fee is not charged at all! That is, the shopkeeper gets the full ₹100. This is the reason why many small shopkeepers hesitate to accept payment through credit cards.
What is this great plan of the government?
The government wants the benefits of UPI (such as fee-free payment) should also be directly available to the customers. A new plan is being worked on under this thinking. After the implementation of this plan, the UPI user will probably have to pay only ₹98 (₹2 discount) for a thing worth ₹100.
Whereas, the credit card user will have to pay the full ₹100. This will not only increase the use of UPI, but customers will also get the direct financial benefit. This can prove to be a great step to promote digital payment.
When will this benefit be available?
To implement this scheme, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is soon going to hold an important meeting with e-commerce companies (like Amazon, Flipkart), banks, NPCI (which runs UPI), and other related organizations. It is likely that this meeting can be held in June. However, this scheme is still in its initial stages, but if everything goes well, then soon UPI users can start getting its benefits.
UPI’s glory
Last year (2024-25), 185 billion transactions were done through UPI, whose a total value was ₹ 260.56 lakh crores. In the last 3 years, 26 crore new users and 5.5 crore new shopkeepers have joined UPI. By 2024, about 45 crore people had used UPI.
These figures show that UPI has become the king of digital payments in India today. The government’s aim is also that UPI becomes more popular, so that the use of digital payments increases even faster. Now it remains to be seen how shopkeepers and companies react to this new scheme.