The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) tells the Supreme Court that merchants should not pass any newly imposed UPI merchant charges on to customers. The outlets report that NPCI’s submission links the change to the need to sustain and fund the UPI system as transaction volumes grow.
NPCI argues that a “zero MDR” approach is no longer sustainable, citing higher demands on security, resilience and infrastructure. The coverage also highlights how the proposed charge is structured: MDR is described as applying only to certain merchant payments, while peer-to-peer transfers and low-value person-to-merchant transactions remain free.
Across reports, the key context is the rationale for introducing or changing MDR and the impact on different kinds of UPI usage. While the Supreme Court and the customer-facing restriction are central themes, outlets differ slightly in how they foreground the “why now” argument—using terms like growth pressures and ecosystem preservation—versus the specific transaction thresholds and the share of merchant activity affected.
