New Delhi. If any kind of transaction fee is levied on UPI service, then 75 percent of the users will stop using it. This conclusion has been drawn in a survey released by ‘LocalCircles’. According to the survey, 38 percent of the users make 50 percent of their payment transactions through UPI instead of debit card, credit card or any other kind of digital medium. The survey says that only 22 percent of UPI users are ready to bear the burden of transaction fee on payments. At the same time, 75 percent of the people said that if transaction fee is levied, they will stop using UPI.
This survey has been conducted on three broad areas. It has received 42,000 responses from 308 districts. However, the number of answers on each question was different. 15,598 responses were received on the question related to transaction charges on UPI. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has recorded a record 57 percent increase in transaction volume and 44 percent increase in value in 2023-24 compared to the previous financial year. For the first time, UPI transactions have crossed 100 billion in a financial year. It was 131 billion in 2023-24, while it was 84 billion in 2022-23.
In terms of value, it has increased from Rs 1,39,100 billion to Rs 1,99,890 billion, the report said. According to the survey, 37 per cent of the respondents shared UPI transactions account for more than 50 per cent of their total payments in terms of value. The survey report said, “UPI is fast becoming an integral part of the payments of four out of 10 consumers. Hence, there is strong opposition to levying any kind of direct or indirect transaction fee.” LocalCircles will forward the findings of this survey to the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to take into account the pulse of the UPI user before allowing any MDR charges. The survey was conducted online between July 15 and September 20.
