Banks Told To Refund Charges Collected From UPI, Rupay Transactions After Jan 1, 2021. Know What It Means To You

Digital Payment Transactions: The apex body of direct taxes Central Board of Direct Taxes noted such practice on part of banks is a breach of section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act including Section 269SU of the Income Tax Act and attracts penal provisions

Representational Picture (AFP)

New Delhi:  Are you aware that the transactions using UPI or payment apps including Google Pay, Paytm, Amazon Pay, BHIM are being levied a fee by banks?  Yes! HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank charge a fee for person-to-person digital payment transactions that exceed more than 20 a month. If you go by the report in MoneyControl, then Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank charge up to Rs 2.50 for amounts of up to Rs 1,000 and Rs 5 for transfers above Rs 1,000 on person-to-person UPI payments that exceed 20 a month. Also Read: Reliance Retail Acquires Future Group’s Businesses For ₹24,713 Crore However, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through a circular told banks that they cannot levy any extra charge on transactions made through electronic modes on or after January 1, 2020.

“Such practice on part of banks is a breach of section 10A of the PSS (Payment and Settlement Systems) Act as well as Section 269SU of the Income Tax Act. Such breach attracts penal provisions…,” the CBDT said. What are the modes of digital transactions? With a view to pushing digital transactions and move towards a less-cash economy, the government inserted a new provision, Section 269SU, in the Finance Act, 2019. According to the Act, a person carrying on business and having sales/turnover/gross receipts from the business of more than Rs 50 crore in the immediately preceding previous year to mandatorily provide facilities for accepting payments through prescribed electronic modes. The electronics modes of transactions include debit card powered by RuPay, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), Unified Payment Interface Quick Response code (UPI QR code), BHIM UPI QR code. What did the apex body notice? The apex body on direct taxes noted certain banks collect charges for UPI transactions while a certain number of transactions are free and beyond the limit, bank charges for every UPI payment. The apex body also received representations about the bank charges. A certain number of transactions are allowed free of charge beyond which every transaction bears a charge. UPI-based payments have crossed 1.49 billion transactions in July, according data released by National Payments Corp. of India. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, digital payments have become a necessity. "Payment systems have demonstrated that they are dependable and durable, and continue to command a high level of confidence from the general population," noted PwC.