Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra warned that free digital payments through Unified Payments Interface might end eventually. Financial sustainability must guide future UPI operations, he stated during a Mumbai event. The government currently bears expenses by providing subsidies to banks and payment infrastructure providers. Malhotra emphasized that essential services require funding from either collective sources or individual users. Payment systems serve as economic lifelines that demand universal efficiency.
UPI achieved remarkable growth by processing transactions worth over Rs 24.03 lakh crore through 18.39 billion payments during June alone. The platform handles approximately 85 percent of India's digital transactions and nearly half of global real-time digital payments. Government policy eliminated Merchant Discount Rates on RuPay debit cards and BHIM-UPI transactions in December 2019. Industry participants have consistently highlighted the current zero-revenue model as financially unsustainable. UPI's unprecedented scale creates significant pressure on backend infrastructure maintained by banks and payment service providers.
UPI achieved remarkable growth by processing transactions worth over Rs 24.03 lakh crore through 18.39 billion payments during June alone. The platform handles approximately 85 percent of India's digital transactions and nearly half of global real-time digital payments. Government policy eliminated Merchant Discount Rates on RuPay debit cards and BHIM-UPI transactions in December 2019. Industry participants have consistently highlighted the current zero-revenue model as financially unsustainable. UPI's unprecedented scale creates significant pressure on backend infrastructure maintained by banks and payment service providers.
