Reuters reported that Pine Labs' profit more than sextupled in the quarter ended Sept. 30, while transactions above India's proposed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) fee threshold accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company's UPI gross transaction value.
Pine Labs' consolidated profit was 385.7 million rupees ($4.05 million), compared with 59.7 million rupees a year earlier, Reuters said. Revenue from operations rose 24% to 8.06 billion rupees.
Revenue from Pine Labs' digital infrastructure and transaction platform segment, its largest, increased 20.8%, Reuters reported. The outlet also said Pine Labs reported a 49% year-over-year increase in mid-market digital checkout points.
India's Ministry of Finance outlined a merchant discount rate (MDR) framework on Sept. 15 for specified person-to-merchant payments through UPI. Reuters described the framework as proposed in its Oct. 29 report. Under the ministry's outline, the fee would be 0.4% on eligible payments above 2,000 rupees, capped at 300 rupees for transactions of 75,000 rupees or more.
The ministry said merchants would bear the charge and banks had been advised to ensure merchants did not pass it on to customers. It said about 96% of merchant transactions would be unaffected, while small merchants covered by zero-MDR rules would remain exempt. Fee revenue would be distributed among banks, payment service providers and UPI app providers, according to the ministry.
The ministry said the framework is intended to support UPI's operations and expansion while keeping payments free for individuals and protecting small merchants. Government figures show UPI processed 23.66 billion transactions worth 29.9 trillion rupees in July 2026.
Reuters reported that Pine Labs said it “sits squarely in the window” covered by the proposed framework.
