There is great news for those who make digital payments through UPI (Unified Payments Interface). The government is now planning to give discounts to those who make payments through UPI. The Consumer Ministry is working on a unique scheme, which will make UPI transactions cheaper and more beneficial than credit cards. Its main objective is to promote digital payments and provide direct benefits to customers. This step will prove to be an important milestone in making India a cashless economy.
Why is this ‘special’ scheme being made
Usually, a 2-3% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is charged on payment through credit card, due to which the shopkeeper is not able to get the full payment. At the same time, there is no charge on the UPI payment! Many times, shopkeepers recover this price from the customers. To end this inequality, the government wants that if a customer makes a payment through UPI, then they should get a direct discount on the price of the goods. This will give real benefit to the consumers, and UPI will become more attractive.
The ‘final’ decision will be taken in June 2025
Before implementing the scheme, the government will hold detailed discussions with e-commerce companies, banks, NPCI, payment service providers, and consumer organizations in June 2025. After this, the final outline of the scheme will be prepared. Although the Payments Council of India has demanded the implementation of MDR on UPI and RuPay debit cards, the government is not approving it right now. This shows that the government is considering the interests of the customers as paramount.
UPI transactions will become ‘even’ faster from June 16
According to the new rule of NPCI, from June 16, 2025, UPI payments will be completed in just 15 seconds, which earlier took up to 30 seconds. This will further improve the digital transaction experience. This change will provide a lot of convenience to the customers, especially during busy times.
UPI transactions broke all records in the financial year 2024-25
In the financial year 2024-25 (FY 2024-25), 185.85 billion transactions were done through UPI, which is 42% (42%) more than last year. Their total value was ₹ 260.56 lakh crore, which shows an annual increase of 30%. This makes it clear that the digital payment system is growing rapidly in the country. These figures show the popularity of UPI and the unprecedented success of the digital revolution in India.