DPI Brief — August 23, 2026

R S Sharma Warns Against UPI MDR: Keep Payments Free

R S Sharma, former UIDAI Director General and ex-ONDC Chairman, has made a forceful case for keeping UPI free for both merchants and consumers. Writing in the Indian Express, Sharma warned that introducing a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions would be deeply regressive — disproportionately hitting small merchants and low-value payments that form the backbone of India’s digital payments revolution.

The numbers are stark. UPI processed over 24,000 crore transactions in FY2025-26, worth approximately ₹314 lakh crore — roughly 66 crore transactions daily, accounting for 85% of India’s digital retail payments and nearly half of all real-time payments globally. The average transaction value is around ₹1,300, and 86% of merchant payments are below ₹500. Sharma estimates that even a modest 0.3% MDR on merchant payments could extract roughly ₹27,000 crore annually from the retail economy, risking a reversal of India’s cash-to-digital transition.

His alternative: fund UPI infrastructure from the fiscal savings that digital payments generate — reduced cash handling costs, better tax compliance, and lower leakage in government transfers. This framing directly challenges the RBI’s 2022 Discussion Paper on payment charges and the ongoing MDR debate. Business Today Indian Express

AgriStack National Conference: Chouhan Pushes for 100% Farmer ID Saturation

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the AgriStack Digital Agriculture Mission at a National Conference held at ICAR Convention Centre, Pusa, New Delhi on August 23. The centrepiece of the review was the Farmer ID — a unique digital identifier designed to authenticate farmers and link their land records, crop data, and subsidy entitlements in a unified profile.

Chouhan directed state governments to achieve 100% saturation under both the Digital Agriculture Mission and the Pulses Self-Reliance Mission. He noted a stark performance gap: states that executed the schemes seriously exceeded their targets, while others lagged significantly. The Farmer ID, under which scheme payments are credited directly to farmers’ bank accounts, was highlighted as a key transparency measure — ensuring benefits reach “fields and farmers’ pockets, not merely official reports.”

This is L5 DPI (Sectoral) in action — the AgriStack layer building on top of L1 (Aadhaar) and L2 (UPI) identity and payment rails to deliver sector-specific services at scale. The News Mill PTI

ABDM Crosses 96 Crore ABHA IDs, 1,000 Crore Health Records Linked

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has hit a significant milestone: over 96 crore ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) IDs have been created, with more than 1,000 crore health records now digitally linked across healthcare facilities and professionals. The disclosure was made by Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, at an event on AI in healthcare.

This represents one of the largest digital health identity deployments globally. The ABDM ecosystem — spanning ABHA IDs (L1 Identity), Health Information Exchange, and digital health records — is creating an interoperable, open-standards-based health infrastructure. With 96 crore IDs against an estimated adult population of ~95 crore, the coverage is nearing universal adoption among India’s adult population. The linking of over 1 billion health records signals deep integration into clinical workflows, moving well beyond mere ID creation. PIB

TRAI Releases Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (13th Amendment) Regulation 2026

TRAI has issued the Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026, targeting the bundling of voice, SMS, and data in tariff vouchers. The regulator proposes that for every bundled Special Tariff Voucher offering voice, SMS, and data with a specific validity period, telecom operators must also offer a corresponding voice-and-SMS-only voucher at a proportionally reduced price.

The move addresses a persistent consumer complaint: users who need only calling and messaging are forced to pay for data bundles they don’t use. TRAI had previously mandated (via the 12th Amendment in 2024) at least one voice-SMS-only STV per operator, but the new draft goes further by requiring a matching voice-SMS plan for every validity tier offered in bundled vouchers. This is L7 (Trust) layer regulation — ensuring fair pricing and consumer protection in digital infrastructure access. Comments on the draft are likely open for public consultation. Akashvani / News on Air

ONDC Reaches 20 Crore Buyers, 90 Lakh Monthly Transactions

A new PIB factsheet on Digital Commerce has updated ONDC’s scale: by June 2026, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) had over 20 crore buyers, 5 lakh sellers, presence in 1,000 cities, and nearly 90 lakh monthly transactions. Its integration with eSaras and Indiahandmade has expanded market access for SHGs, weavers, and artisans across 11+ buyer apps, while the Sahayak WhatsApp Bot supports small businesses in 5 languages.

On the governance procurement side, GeM recorded over ₹18.4 lakh crore in cumulative GMV (including ₹5 lakh crore in FY 2025-26), enabling over 11 lakh MSMEs to access government markets. PIB