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Credit spends on UPI, merchants see debits
Merchants are grappling with a flurry of small levies by payment service providers on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, although the government has mandated that the instant payment system be provided free of cost to them as part of efforts to digitalise the economy.
Industry executives said merchants are finding small amounts being deducted from their end-of-day settlements, resulting in confusion. It comes as an increasing number of consumers are using RuPay credit cards, issued on India's domestic payment network, for UPI payments, even for small amounts. Additionally, with credit lines now opening up on UPI, a higher proportion of transactions on the payment system will soon carry a charge.
These charges are referred to as the merchant discount rate (MDR). While the MDR on savings account-based UPI payments is zero, charges are applicable if a customer uses a credit card or a prepaid account for certain payments.
“Our on-ground sales executives explain the charges to merchants. Most of them are against services they opt for, but the problem crops up only in cases where the customer uses a credit instrument to pay via UPI. Perhaps more awareness building is necessary now that credit lines are getting popular on UPI,” said a senior executive at a digital payments firm, who did not wish to be identified.
ETtech
Queries sent to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the UPI system, did not elicit a response till press time.
According to equity research firm Bernstein, RuPay credit cards are estimated to account for 38% of all credit card transactions currently, up from 28% a year earlier, indicating their growing popularity.
“RuPay credit card swipes on UPI are a significant portion of transactions today. The usage has significantly gone up, so there are no surprises that the charges associated with such transactions are showing up and becoming meaningful for mid-sized merchants,” the executive quoted above said.
While announcing its September quarter results, Paytm said that it had 13.7 million merchant subscriptions, reflecting the growing number of merchants who are accessing additional financial services from payment firms.
Mid-sized merchants face the squeeze
Currently, the MDR, even on credit cards, is not applicable to small merchants with an annual turnover of less than Rs 20 lakh and for transactions less than Rs 2,000. Industry estimates suggest that the average ticket size of UPI-based RuPay card payments would be about Rs 1,000. Therefore, the challenge is cropping up for mid-sized retailers who are enrolled under the goods and services tax regime but are used to accepting UPI payments free of cost.
Besides MDR, merchants pay several other charges for UPI acceptance at their outlets. Payment aggregators charge a monthly fee for soundboxes and value-added services that they might be providing. Additionally, if a merchant has taken a credit service, daily interest payments are settled from the merchant account.
“There are some discussions happening on rental deductions from UPI merchants after the new PA (payment aggregators) guidelines have come out. We are not clear yet if rental payments can be deducted from the same account,” the founder of a payments firm said on condition of anonymity.
However, the sector regulator and the NPCI are keen that merchants not be misguided about any deductions without proper explanation.
The payment company executive quoted earlier pointed out that such declines had become very common when RuPay credit cards were launched on UPI two years ago. At that time, the NPCI had undertaken multiple initiatives to increase awareness among merchants.
“Perhaps a similar exercise will need to be carried out this time as well as more and more credit line payments get popular,” the executive said.
Now, with credit lines opening up on UPI and prepaid cards also being used via UPI QR codes, many more MDR bearing payment instruments are being used through this mode, leading to more levies on merchants.
“On cards the understanding among merchants is very clear, but on UPI, given the profile of merchants using QR codes, awareness is still a bit low in certain areas. If we see declines happening at some outlets, we send our sales people to engage with them and explain the service,” said the founder cited earlier.
Data from the NPCI suggests that UPI is fast emerging as the payment method of choice among consumers. In September it recorded more than 20 billion transactions, a milestone spurred by a surge in festive season sales. Data further showed that around 12 billion transactions were merchant payments, resulting in the settlement of Rs 7.2 lakh crore in transactions.
Source: EconomicTimes
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