Paper on digital payment charges to be floated

THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) has proposed issuing a discussion paper on all aspects of digital payment charges, including the ones incurred while using credit cards, debit cards, prepaid payment instruments, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), among others.

- PIYUSH SHUKLA

The central bank also proposed launching a UPI-based payment product for feature phone users.

In its statement on developmental and regulatory policies issued post the monetary policy committee meeting held on Wednesday, the central bank said entities involved in providing digital payment services incur costs that are generally recovered from merchants or customers or is borne by one or more of the participants.

While there are both advantages and disadvantages of customers bearing these charges, the regulator said, they should be reasonable and should not become a deterrent in the adoption of digital payments.