01
Business
UPI Was Built as Digital Cash. Turning It Into a Toll Road Risks Breaking the Model
UPI became successful because it made digital payments simple, instant and effectively free for ordinary users and merchants. The proposed MDR on higher-value merchant transactions changes that equation. This article examines why comparing UPI with credit cards is misleading, how merchant charges can eventually reach consumers, why cash transactions may rise again, and whether introducing an "expenditure toll" makes sense when banks, RBI and NPCI remain highly profitable overall.