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Fintech Brief — August 08, 2026 Lok Sabha Passes Bill Opening Door to UPI Merchant Charges The Lok Sabha passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on August 7, amending the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 to remove the legal bar that prohibited banks and payment service providers from levying charges on notified electronic payment modes — including UPI. The amendment replaces Section 10A’s reference to Section 269SU of the Income Tax Act with a provision authorising the Central Government to notify specific electronic payment modes where charges may be permitted. Crucially, no MDR rate or implementation timeline has been announced yet — the Bill only creates the legal framework for a future decision. ...

The Week India Discovered ‘Free’ Was Just a Subscription You Hadn’t Paid For Yet Dispatch from Neo-Mumbai, Financial Year 2047. A digital archivist unearths the week of August 4–8, 2026, when Parliament made free things potentially expensive, lending apps turned ₹16,000 emergencies into generational debt, and a telehealth company proved that the most profitable medical condition was the inability to cancel a subscription. 📰 Future Headlines From This Week “Lok Sabha Passes Bill Allowing Merchant Fees on UPI — ‘Consumers Won’t Pay,’ Says Finance Minister, Adding ‘Merchants Are Known for Their Generosity’” — Multiple sources, August 4–6, 2026 “India’s Digital Lenders Push ₹2,300 Cr Monthly in Loans — 4 Out of 5 Personal Loans Now from Apps, No Legal Interest Rate Cap Exists” — Bloomberg/Mint, August 7, 2026 “FTC Complaints Reveal Hims & Hers Charging ₹1.25 Lakh for Subscriptions Users Never Signed Up For — ‘We’re Having a Difficult Financial Time,’ Reports Consumer Who Needed That Money for Rent” — Gizmodo/FOIA, August 2026 “India’s Youth Choose Debt Over Savings: ‘I Don’t Want to Miss Out,’ Says 24-Year-Old With 8 Active Loan Apps” — Channel News Asia, August 2026 “RBI Draft Norms Restrict Revolving Credit for NBFCs — Too Late for the 130 Million Loans Disbursed Last Year Averaging ₹16,000 Each” — CNBC TV18, August 2026 “Jefferies Estimates UPI MDR Could Generate ₹5,000–10,000 Cr Annual Revenue — Payment Companies Celebrate, Kirana Store Owners Stare at Ceiling” — TechCrunch, August 4, 2026 A Citizen’s Testimonial My name is Arjun-12, and I am a recovering digital borrower. ...

India is replacing the 135-year-old Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 with a digital-first law. Here’s what it does — and what consumers should watch out for.

Fintech Deep Dive — Friday | August 07, 2026 Theme: Policy & Regulation — RBI decisions, parliamentary legislation, SEBI moves, and the regulatory scaffolding shaping Indian fintech. This was an exceptionally heavy week for Indian fintech policy. Parliament passed two landmark bills redefining digital payments monetisation and banking evidence law. The RBI held its August MPC meeting, resumed urban cooperative bank licensing after two decades, and the Delhi High Court ordered the winding up of Paytm Payments Bank. Below are the five most consequential regulatory developments of the past seven days. ...

Stock Watch — August 7, 2026 Market Day Summary | Not investment advice 📊 INDICES Index Prev Close Change % Change Direction Nifty 50 24,636.00 +11.35 +0.05% ➡️ Nifty Bank 58,063.65 +323.70 +0.56% ↗️ FinNifty 26,863.50 +19.60 +0.07% ➡️ Nifty IT 31,106.20 -297.85 -0.95% ↘️ Sensex 78,955.00 +373.76 +0.48% ↗️ Pre-market cues: Gift Nifty ~24,650 (+0.04%) — flat-to-mildly positive, pointing to a muted open. India VIX at 12.11. Bank Nifty outperformed on Thursday (+0.56%) while Nifty IT lagged (-0.95%) — profit-taking in tech, rotation into banks. FIIs were ~flat (net -₹17.86 cr) while DIIs bought ₹4,013.60 cr on Aug 6. ...

Fintech Brief — August 07, 2026 Lok Sabha Clears Bill Paving Way for UPI Charges The Lok Sabha passed a bill amending Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, enabling the government to permit banks and payment systems to levy charges on UPI transactions. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that end-users will not face charges — the framework targets merchant-side MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) recovery. The actual MDR policy will be set by NPCI’s UPI Services Steering Committee after the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 becomes law. ...

Fintech Deep Dive — Thursday | August 06, 2026 This week’s theme: International & Cross-Border — tracking UPI’s global expansion, cross-border payment infrastructure, and the remittance corridors reshaping how money moves in and out of India. 1. Maldives Goes Live: Favara-UPI Cross-Border Corridor Opens for Real-Time Transfers The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) announced the successful go-live of the Favara-UPI integration on 30 July 2026, marking the first cross-border payment corridor between the two nations. 1 ...

Stock Watch — August 6, 2026 Market Day Summary | Not investment advice 📊 INDICES Index Prev Close Change % Change Direction Nifty 50 24,624.65 +9.75 +0.04% ➡️ Nifty Bank 57,739.95 -167.25 -0.29% ↘️ FinNifty 26,843.90 -0.80 ~0.00% ➡️ Nifty IT 31,404.05 -49.71 -0.16% ↘️ Sensex 78,581.00 +152.05 +0.19% ↗️ Pre-market cues: Gift Nifty at 17,878 pts (flat-to-positive). US markets strong — Dow record (+1.71%), S&P 500 (+1.79%), Nasdaq (+3.32%). Iran-Hormuz deal optimism easing crude. Asia mixed — KOSPI +1.62%, Nikkei +0.32%. ...

Fintech Brief — August 06, 2026 RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25%, Raises GDP Forecast to 6.7% The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee unanimously kept the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 5.25% at its August 3–5 meeting, retaining its neutral stance. Governor Sanjay Malhotra, however, delivered an optimistic macroeconomic upgrade: the FY27 real GDP growth forecast was raised to 6.7% (from 6.6%), while the CPI inflation projection was lowered to 5.0% (from 5.1%). ...

Stock Watch — August 5, 2026 Market Day Summary | Not investment advice 📊 INDICES Index Prev Close (Aug 4) Change % Change Pre-Market Signal Nifty 50 24,614.90 -159.40 -0.64% ↗️ GIFT Nifty at 24,730 (+0.6%) Sensex 78,428.95 -210.08 -0.27% ↗️ Tracking global cues Bank Nifty ~57,600* Weak ~ -0.8% S: 57,300 FinNifty ~19,200* Weak ~ -0.5% Cautious ahead of RBI Nifty IT ~35,800* Drag ~ -1.5% Oversold, bounce possible *Approximate levels based on sectoral performance data. ...