For years, India's Unified Payments Interface grew into one of the world's most expansive digital payment networks by asking almost nothing of those who used it — a generosity sustained by subsidy and goodwill rather than commerce. On Tuesday, the government acknowledged that infrastructure of such scale must eventually pay for itself, introducing a 0.4% merchant discount rate on UPI transactions above ₹2,000, effective October 15. The policy is drawn with care: everyday users and small transactions are shielded, essential services receive flat fees, and the charge falls only on the merchant e