Three out of four users will stop using UPI payments if transaction fee is introduced: Survey

A survey report from research agency LocalCircles showed on Sunday, September 22, three out of four or 75 per cent of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) users sampled will stop using the payment mode once the transaction fee has been implemented.

Out of the 15,598 UPI users sample size who responded to the question, 75 per cent said, “There should be no charge on UPI transactions, and I will stop using if a charge is introduced,” according to the LocalCircles survey report.

The remaining 22 per cent of the UPI users taking the survey were willing to bear the charge of a transaction fee, and 3 per cent of users remained unclear in their response, as per the report.

The total sample size is nearly 42,000 responses from consumers located in 308 districts of India. According to the report, 63 per cent of the respondents were men, while 37 per cent of the respondents were women.

The sample size was 41 percent from Tier 1, 30 percent from Tier 2, and 29 percent from Tier 3, 4, and rural districts. The people participating in the survey were validated citizens mandated to register with LocalCircles to participate in the survey, said the report.

A similar survey was conducted in March 2024, where the response was 73 per cent of users were unwilling to pay the transaction fees; the number increased by 3 per cent to 75 per cent in September, according to the survey report.

India's fintech landscape has made it easier and more convenient to use digital payment solutions like UPI, which has made life easier for citizens, financial inclusion, growth of business and the economy. The availability of contactless payment like BHIM-UPI made things like social distancing and business transactions possible during the global pandemic COVID-19, according to the report.

Data on UPI:

As per data collected from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI transaction volume witnessed a 44 per cent rise in value in the financial year 2023-24, compared year-on-year.

Transactions crossed 100 billion and closed at 131 billion, compared to 84 billion in the financial year 2022-23, as the value peaked at ₹199.89 trillion, compared to ₹139.1 trillion. UPI transactions have grown more than 36 per cent to ₹66 lakh crore in the first quarter of the current financial year, according to the report.