UPI payments through prepaid instruments to carry fee from April 1

NEW DELHI: The National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) has announced that an interchange fee will be applicable for UPI transactions using prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), that is, wallets or cards from April 1.

The charge is applicable on UPI payments of over ₹2,000 made to online merchants, large merchants and small offline merchants. NCPI stated that on certain merchant categories, a lower interchange starting from 0.5 per cent, might be levied as per applicable caps.

At the same time, the central government had also extended the deadline for linking PAN card with Aadhaar. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has announced that PAN cards can be linked with Aadhaar till June 30, 2023. Earlier, the deadline was set for April 1.