UPI MDR Delay: PhonePe meets govt officials; NPCI Steering Committee Meeting cancelled today [Exclusive]

The UPI MDR rollout is likely to be delayed beyond October 15, but a final decision is yet to be announced. Sources said several meetings have taken place behind the scenes.

Sources told The Head and Tale that officials from PhonePe met government officials Thursday evening. The IPO-bound fintech is understood to be opposed to any deferral of the MDR on UPI. As the largest UPI player, PhonePe was seen as the biggest beneficiary of the policy.

The fintech major deferred its $15 billion IPO earlier this year after failing to get the valuation it was seeking. When the MDR policy was announced last month, PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam said the move could accelerate the company’s listing plans.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) also held several meetings with various government departments yesterday, sources said. 

A Steering Committee meeting of NPCI that was scheduled for today has been cancelled. It could not be immediately ascertained why the meeting was called off.

"While there has been a lot of uncertainty, the overall sentiment suggests the implementation is likely to be pushed back, at least till Diwali," one source said. Another source said a deferral till January is “very likely.”

The latest developments follow an earlier exclusive report by The Head and Tale that the UPI MDR rollout was likely to move to January. On Thursday, we reported that a decision to postpone the rollout had been finalised, with a formal notification expected soon.

However, with discussions and meetings still continuing, the revised timeline remains unclear. While discussions around a UPI MDR postponement appear to be gaining traction and October 15 just days away, a formal notification confirming the revised implementation date is awaited.