Digital payments | The UPI gambit
India is putting a price on the payment rail it made free even as it takes that model to the world. The economics may hold up. What happens at the counter is the test
Pay to get paid: High-end stores, like this one in New Delhi, will be charged for receiving UPI payments above Rs 2,000 (Photo: Arun Kumar)
ISSUE DATE: Oct 5, 2026 | Sep 25, 2026 19:19 IST
Last UpdatedSep 25, 2026 19:19 IST 
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Last UpdatedSep 25, 2026 19:19 IST Published byShyam Balasubramanian
Sep 25, 2026 19:19 ISTAjay Singh has done the maths and does not like it. The Madhya Pradesh Petroleum Dealers Association chief reckons each of its members accepts over 100 UPI payments above Rs 2,000 in a day. From October 15, such transactions will cost them money—roughly Rs 590 a day or Rs 17,700 a month, on a business he claims earns them just half a per cent. The association members, he warns, will stop accepting UPI payments above Rs 2,000.