Budget 2026: ₹2,000cr set aside for UPI, RuPay payments
The government just set aside ₹2,000 crore in the new budget to encourage small-value UPI payments and RuPay debit card use.
That's actually a bit less than last year's revised amount, even though UPI is booming like never before.
UPI processed over 21 billion transactions in January alone
UPI processed a mind-blowing 21.7 billion transactions in January 2026 alone—now making up over 85% of India's online payments.
Still, many in the industry hoped for much bigger support (think ₹4,500-₹15,000 crore) to keep up with all this growth.
Payment groups ask for higher MDR on UPI, RuPay
Payment groups are asking for a higher Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI and RuPay for large merchants, since they pay way more on credit cards than on these platforms.
Meanwhile, investors seemed happy—Paytm shares rose as much as 5% intraday, and Mobikwik rose by 4% after the announcement.