New Delhi, September 16 (IANS). NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri on Wednesday said imposing nominal charges on some UPI transactions can help in making the digital payments system self-reliant. He said that this fee should be kept as low as possible so that there is no additional burden on consumers.
Lahiri said the “user-pay principle” should be considered for UPI. He argued that businesses also get a big benefit from digital payments, as it saves them the cost and hassle of processes like depositing checks and handling cash.
When asked whether imposing a fee on UPI payments above Rs 2,000 could hurt digital payments, he said, “Keep it as low as possible, but please implement it so that UPI can become a self-sustaining business.”
During this, BillDesk Director and Co-Founder Srinivasu MN said that UPI has become the lifeline of consumers for everyday payments. This has been driven by huge investments made by banks, financial institutions and the entire payments ecosystem.
He said the number of UPI users in India has crossed 50 crore and as it expands, more investment will be required in technologies like fraud prevention, cyber security and consumer awareness.
Srinivasu clarified that the proposed UPI fee will not apply to consumers or small value merchant transactions. He said this fee will be applicable only on limited transactions of more than Rs 2,000. There will be provision for concessional charges on some regular payments like electricity-water bills, government tax payments, insurance premiums and fuel payments.
He also said that a part of the amount received from Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) can be put into a special fund which can be used to promote UPI transactions especially among small merchants.
Lahiri also said that amid uncertainty in global markets, Indian companies should identify new export markets themselves. He said that instead of the government, the private sector should decide in which countries and regions the demand for Indian products can be better.
“The world is very big,” he said. He mentioned opportunities that exist in Africa, Latin America, East Asia and Australia, although he also said it is not easy to name any one particular market.
Srinivasu said that India is today the global leader in retail digital payments and accounts for more than half of the world's total retail digital transactions. However, he said that UPI has currently reached about 50 crore users, due to which there is ample scope for its further expansion.
–IANS
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