NPCI has deferred the UPI MDR on select person-to-merchant transactions until immediately after Diwali, with a new date to be notified, it said on October 13, two days before the fee was due to start on October 15. UPI processed 24.07 billion transactions worth ₹29.37 trillion in September, a record average of 802 million a day.
Why it matters: Business Standard reports that the fee structure itself is unchanged, so the decision changes only the start date. It holds back a charge that banks and payment companies processing UPI merchant payments had been due to start collecting, during the festive season when merchant volumes peak.
Source: Business Standard, October 13, 2026
Related: TWTWIP week ending 16 October 2026 · Pix keys top 1 billion in Brazil
Image: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
