One of the biggest expenditures for UPI, therefore, is battling fraud and bringing bad actors to justice.

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IPO-bound Phonepe has clarified that UPI payments will continue to remain free for consumers and the conversation around sustainable business model was to make the ecosystem more robust to take on fresh threats from frauds and other cyber-attacks.Amid the ongoing confusion around charges on UPI transactions, Sameer Nigam, CEO, PhonePe on his X handle said that Indian consumers will not be charged anything for making UPI payments and that it will remain free for them.The current debate about the UPI ecosystem is not about changing the fundamental design principles but how to build sustainable business models around a payments infrastructure that facilitates over 9,000 transactions every second.“This requires continuous investment and building of capabilities. The task of creating one of the safest and most reliable payments systems in the world has kept banks, payment companies, fintechs, NPCI and RBI engaged over the last decade. It is a continuous process that requires enormous resources to be poured in, every single day,” he said.combating fraudAs the volumes grow larger, the UPI ecosystem will become more attractive for bad actors. One of the biggest expenditures for UPI, therefore, is battling fraud and bringing bad actors to justice.“We need to invest in building and maintaining the much-needed resilience in the system. This means keeping the UPI system up and running at all times, despite the traffic volumes, which is paramount to ensure that millions of Indians can make their daily purchases seamlessly,” said Nigam.Lastly, investments are need for innovation to ensure that the UPI system continues to be a cutting-edge technology platform that meets the requirements of businesses and consumers for years to come, he added.The expenditure on these items, which are by and large technology and people-intensive, falls on the ecosystem and its ability to fund these expenditures ultimately ensures that consumers get to experience the ease of a seamless digital payment experience, he said.The conversation around funding was around future-proofing the UPI system for decades of continued service to the economy, Nigam added.Published on August 8, 2026