UPI MDR on Train Tickets: Fees to be charged for booking train tickets via UPI..

A significant change in the world of digital payments is set to take effect on October 15. A Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.40% will apply to UPI payments exceeding ₹2,000. Fees have also been introduced for railway tickets, though they have been placed in a category distinct from general merchant transactions. Under the new rules, railways have been included in a special category alongside essential sectors such as utilities, fuel, telecom, and insurance. Consequently, booking a train ticket worth more than ₹2,000 via UPI will incur a flat fee of ₹5. Many people are wondering whether this fee will be charged to passengers or if IRCTC will have to bear the cost.

The direct and reassuring answer is that passengers will not have to pay a single extra penny from their own pockets. According to government regulations, the MDR is always charged to the merchant—the seller or service provider—and merchants cannot pass this cost on to customers. This simply means that if you book a train ticket worth ₹3,000 via UPI using the IRCTC app or website, exactly ₹3,000 will be deducted from your bank account, not ₹3,005. The entire cost will be borne by the merchant—in this case, the Railways/IRCTC—and the banks.

**No 0.4% MDR on Rail Tickets**

An MDR of up to 0.4% will apply to transactions exceeding ₹2,000 at general retail stores or for other merchant payments. For instance, a payment of ₹10,000 at a regular shop would incur a charge of ₹40 based on the 0.4% rate. However, railways have been classified under a special category reserved for essential sectors like utilities, fuel, telecom, and insurance. Under this system, regardless of the ticket price, a flat MDR of ₹5 has been fixed for the merchant on payments exceeding ₹2,000.

**A Burden of ₹18 Crore on the Railways**

From the perspective of an ordinary passenger, the sum of ₹5 might appear insignificant; however, for a vast network like Indian Railways, this figure runs into the crores. According to Railway estimates, if approximately 1 lakh tickets worth more than ₹2,000 are booked daily via UPI, it would generate a daily MDR of ₹5 lakh. Calculated over 365 days, this amount would reach approximately ₹18.25 crore annually.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from News18 Hindi. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.