As per a latest survey, a majority of 73 per cent will stop using UPI if a transaction fee is levied on it.
One of the key reasons the majority have taken to UPI is the zero transaction fee, and if a fee were to be introduced, many would reduce usage of UPI or stop using it depending on the fee.
The survey conducted by LocalCircles received over 34,000 responses from citizens in over 364 districts, comprising 67 per cent of male respondents and 33 per cent of women.
When asked about the frequency of UPI usage, the survey found that one in two UPI users conduct over 10 transactions every month.
The survey also found that some platforms or merchants are levying a convenience or transaction fee for UPI transactions with 37 per cent UPI users surveyed saying that they have had one or more such instances in the last 12 months.
One of the most common examples cited by consumers frequently is the Rs 20 convenience fee levied by IRCTC for UPI payments. Several other payment gateways have also been reported to be charging a transaction fee for UPI transactions from merchants, some of whom end up passing the same to the consumer.
In February, the UPI transaction value reached Rs 18.28 lakh crore with transactions per day increasing to 41.7 crore last month from 39.3 crore in January. This is despite the curbs put by RBI on Paytm, one of the top three platforms in the country for UPI transactions.
In August 2022, the RBI released a discussion paper proposing a tiered structure charge on UPI payments based on different amount bands.
The finance ministry clarified that there was no proposal to levy charges on UPI transactions. However, consumers from across India have been reporting some platforms charging a convenience or transaction fee for UPI payments.