Legal Framework Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007
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Current affairsUPI MDR Policy Clarification 2026: P2P Transactions Remain Free; 0.4% MDR on Select Merchant Payments Above ₹2,000The Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified on September 15, 2026, that all person-to-person (P2P) UPI transactions will remain completely free. A Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.4% — capped at ₹300 — will now apply on select person-to-merchant (P2M) UPI payments above ₹2,000. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is implementing the change to make the zero-MDR model financially sustainable for payment ecosystem participants. Current affairsGlobal Fintech Fest 2026: RBI on Tokenisation, Agentic AI, and India's Financial Inclusion Index at 70The Global Fintech Fest 2026, held in Mumbai, brought together policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders under the theme "Potential to Impact: Agentic AI | Tokenisation | Quantum: Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance." RBI highlighted tokenisation of financial assets and responsible Agentic AI as the next frontiers of India's fintech evolution. India's Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) rose to 70.0 as of March 2026, up from 67.0 in March 2025. Current affairsUPI Hits Record 23.66 Billion Transactions in July 2026 — ₹29.88 Lakh Crore in ValueIndia's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed a record 23.66 billion transactions worth ₹29.88 lakh crore in July 2026, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). This surpassed the previous monthly volume record of 23.20 billion set in May 2026. Transaction volume grew 22% year-on-year and 4.1% month-on-month, without any major festival or quarter-end activity to drive the surge.