Majority of UPI Users Oppose Transaction Fees, Survey Reveals
Majority of UPI Users Oppose Transaction Fees, Survey Reveals
Strong resistance highlighted as 75% of users threaten to abandon UPI over potential charges.
A recent survey conducted by LocalCircles indicates that approximately 75% of UPI users would discontinue using the service if transaction fees were introduced. The survey, which gathered data from July 15 to September 20, showed that 38% of respondents conduct over half of their payment transactions via UPI, opting for it over debit, credit or other digital payment methods.
The survey revealed that only 22% of users are willing to accept a transaction fee for UPI payments. In light of these findings, LocalCircles plans to present the results to the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure user sentiments are considered before any merchant discount rate (MDR) charges are implemented.
The survey received 42,000 responses across 308 districts, though the number of replies varied per question, with 15,598 responses specifically addressing transaction fees. The National Payments Corporation of India reported a record increase of 57% in transaction volume and 44% in transaction value for the 2023-24 fiscal year, with UPI transactions surpassing 100 billion for the first time, reaching 131 billion compared to 84 billion in 2022-23, totaling a value of Rs 199.89 trillion, up from Rs 139.1 trillion.
The growing reliance on UPI among consumers underscores significant resistance to any potential transaction fees.
