UPI Charges on Payment Aggregators: ICICI Bank Move Explained
Why in the news
ICICI Bank began billing payment aggregators (PAs) for UPI handling, testing the free-UPI ecosystem.
Key facts
- Hit firms: Razorpay, PayU, Pine Labs, Innoviti, Worldline, which earn MDR on cards and platform fees on UPI.
- Banks run the backend without charging users.
- Most PAs absorb the cost rather than pass it to merchants.
| Party | Stance |
|---|---|
| Government | UPI is a public good, free for users and small merchants |
| RBI | Must be sustainable |
| Banks | Resist uncompensated costs of scale |
Exam angle
- Terms: payment aggregator, MDR.