In an attempt to reduce its burn rate and turn a profit, Paytm will begin passing on the merchant discount rate – the fee that card companies and banks charge for processing digital transactions – to customers from today, the Economic Times reports, citing two people familiar with the development. One of the sources told ET that this amounted to an additional 1% fee on payments through credit cards, 0.9% on debit cards and up to Rs 12-15 for transactions through net banking and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The new fees will apply to all modes of digital payments, including topping up the wallet, the report said. A Paytm spokesperson told Medianama in a statement that the company itself does not charge customers a convenience or transaction fee for using any payment method - cards, UPI, netbanking or wallet - and has no plans to do so in the future. Meanwhile, the RBI's decision to waive all charges on fund transfers through the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) System also comes into effect from today, Livemint reports. Until now, the central bank charged banks for transfers through RTGS and NEFT, and banks in turn passed on these charges to their customers. But last month the RBI said it would scrap the charges, and that that banks would be required to pass on the benefits of zero charges to their customers. RTGS is used to transfer large amounts (minimum ₹2 lakh) between bank accounts instantaneously. National Electronic…
