
In its latest circular, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had said that Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) fees would be applied to merchant transactions on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) starting from April 1.
The governing body said that any UPI transaction of more than Rs 2,000 via prepaid payment instruments (PPI) like online wallets or pre-loaded gift cards, among others, will carry an interchange fee of up to 1.1 per cent of the transaction value.
Soon after the announcement, confusions started arising among consumers on who will be charged for these transactions and which payment modes will be chargeable.
Amidst the confusion, Paytm Payments Bank took to Twitter to announce that the interchange fees will not be applicable on customers. This means that consumers will not have to bear any burden of paying extra charge on making payments from UPI either via bank account or Paytm wallet.
"Regarding NPCI circular on interchange fees & wallet interoperability, no customer will pay any charges on making payments from #UPI either from bank account or PPI/Paytm Wallet. Please do not spread misinformation. #Mobile payments will continue to drive our economy forward!," Paytm Payments Bank tweeted.
NPCI, in its circular, mentioned that the interchange fee would not be applicable on peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-peer-merchant (P2PM) transactions between a bank account and a PPI wallet.
The interchange fee is levied to cover the costs of accepting, processing, and authorising transactions. The introduction of interchange fees is aimed at increasing revenue for banks and payment service providers.
The PPI issuer will pay the remitter bank approximately 15 basis points as a wallet-loading service charge, the circular said.
Also Read: UPI payments of more than Rs 2,000 to be charged at 1.1% starting April 1; check details
Also Read: GPay, BharatPe, Razorpay, Paytm partner with NPCI to introduce credit card transactions on UPI