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by sifar 1123 days ago
>> The plain idea of UPI is that it is publicly funded digital infrastructure

UPI is developed by NPCI which is a consortium of Indian banks (public and private), supported by RBI[0]. It is a not-for profit, but not publicly funded.

The fees are lower right now since they want to proliferate the use and get a monopoly over Visa/Mastercard. Once done, expect them to be at par. They just added some fees this march [1].

The distrust is not conspiracy theories but common sense when you observe how other entities have behaved previously.

[0] www.npci.org.in [1] https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blexplainer/interchange...
3 comments
alephnerd 1123 days ago
> It is a not-for profit, but not publicly funded.

That's a bit disingenuous.

51-55% of NPCI's ownership is the RBI and PSU Banks (operated by Ministry of Finance) [0], so in reality it's a public private partnership between the Ministry of Finance and Private Sector banks.

A good comparison to the NPCI would probably be the Federal Reserve system in the US, but NPCI is a bit more autarkic.

[0] - https://www.npci.org.in/PDF/npci/corporate-governance/shareh...

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sifar 1123 days ago
I mean technically yes, but the reason I feel it is nothing to cheer about is if you understand how these public funded corporations work in India. They are mostly the worst of both worlds - you get a monopoly with lousy service.

For e.g the case of IRCTC which is the commercial arm of Indian railways and look at the insane price gouging that has been happening.

In the end, people end up over paying for sub-par products/services.

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WeylandYutani 1122 days ago
Visa/MasterCard is an extension of the American government.

I distrust them more than my local government.

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theWreckluse 1123 days ago
Can you please provide references/sources for the last statement.
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sifar 1123 days ago
Err ... more recent, not Indian but :) ... OpenAI. Basically almost any startup that was trying to acquire market share with VC money. Couple it with the Indian government's penchant for digital surveillance and you ignore it at your own peril.

To clarify, I am not saying UPI is not useful - it is to millions of people, but it is also not benign that it is made out to be.

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