UPI payment rules changed from today! 1.1% charge will be levied on online transactions above ₹2000, know who will have to pay:

Tech Desk, New Delhi. A big change regarding UPI, the most popular digital payment system in India, today i.e. 1 February 2026 Has come into effect from. According to the new guidelines issued by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), now on online transactions above ₹ 2000 1.1 percent Additional fee (Interchange Charge) will have to be paid. This step of the government and NPCI is considered to be taken towards financially strengthening the UPI ecosystem and preventing misuse of resources.

Till now all transactions through UPI were free, but now customers will have to be careful while making online payments of large amounts.

Which transactions will be charged? (Merchant vs Personal)

There is a lot of confusion among users regarding this rule, which NPCI has clarified:

Online Merchant Transactions: If you make purchases above ₹2000 through e-commerce sites (like Amazon, Flipkart), online food delivery, or any app, a charge of 1.1% will be applicable.

P2P Transfer (Person to Person): The matter of relief is that if you are sending money to any of your friends or relatives, it will be completely safe. free Will remain.

Offline QR Code: There will also be no additional charges on payments made by scanning QR codes at local shops or grocery stores.

How much will it burden the pocket? (calculation)

Under the new rule, if you place an online order worth ₹5000, you will get ₹55 You may have to pay extra. This charge will be visible on the app only at the time of transaction. All major apps like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm have started updating it in their systems.

What is the monthly limit of Rs 10 lakh?

To provide relief to common users, NPCI has also created a ‘Fair Use’ policy:

Free Limit: A user can do online transactions up to a total of ₹10 lakh per month without any charges.

When will the charge start: The charge will start being deducted on every payment of ₹2000+ when the total online transactions of the month cross the limit of ₹10 lakh. This will not have any major impact on small consumers.

Why was this big decision taken?

According to NPCI, the load on the banking system had increased significantly due to crores of transactions taking place daily. Other than this:

financial stability: Fintech companies and banks need revenue to maintain the system.

Control on fraud: The imposition of charges on large transactions is expected to reduce the cases of fake collect requests and online fraud.

Control of the system: Securing resources by controlling unlimited free usage.

Expert advice

Now for large online payments, users may have to consider other options like credit card, debit card or net banking. However, for small daily expenses (like vegetables, fruits or tea), UPI will still remain the most accessible and free medium.