India's digital-payments backbone, regulator-adjacent, steering the UPI era
The National Payments Corporation of India has announced a 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI payments above 2,000 rupees, to be applied from Oct 15. Transactions up to 2,000 rupees remain free for consumers. The move will be distributed among providers to fund infrastructure, resilience and cybersecurity. Critics warn it could push businesses and some consumers back to cash.