The end of the free lunch

It is a peculiarity of Indian public debate that a country which cheerfully pays Rs 30 to have biscuits delivered to the doorstep should treat a modest charge for moving money through one of the world’s most sophisticated payment systems as an outrage. The difference is not hard to spot. The delivery fee is visible; the cost of a UPI transaction has been hidden — first by regulatory fiat, then by the government and the payments industry quietly picking up the tab. That arrangement made sense when the Unified Payments Interface needed nurturing. It makes progressively less sense now.