# UPI QR code limits and charges

> Generating a UPI QR code costs nothing and receiving person-to-person payments is free, typically capped around ₹1 lakh per day. Merchant payments carry zero MDR as of 2026. Actual limits are layered — NPCI framework, then your bank, then your app — so the binding number lives with your bank.

Source: https://useqr.app/docs/payments/upi-qr-code-limits-and-charges · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, MIT licensed, no signup.

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## Three layers set your limit

There is no single number that is "the UPI limit", and any page that states one without
qualification is wrong for somebody. Limits are layered:

1. **NPCI framework.** NPCI, which operates UPI, sets the ceiling structure — per
   transaction, per day, and higher caps for specific verified merchant categories.
2. **Your bank.** Each bank sets its own limits within the framework, and they differ:
   per-transaction caps, daily caps, and counts of transactions per day.
3. **Your app.** UPI apps can apply their own, sometimes tighter, limits and velocity
   checks on top.

The binding constraint is the **lowest of the three**, and the authoritative numbers live
in your bank's UPI terms and your app's payment-limits screen — not on any third-party
page, this one included. What can be said with confidence: for person-to-person payments,
the widely published norm is **around ₹1 lakh per day**, with per-transaction caps that
vary by bank. Verified merchants in certain categories have higher ceilings, keyed to the
[merchant category code](/docs/payments/upi-qr-merchant-category-code).

The practical corollary: if a legitimate payment fails with a limit error, the fix is at
the payer's bank or app, not in the QR code. The
[code itself](/docs/payments/upi-qr-code-format) carries no limit information at all.

## What receiving money costs

| Payment type | Charge to receive |
|---|---|
| P2P (personal VPA) | **Free** |
| P2M (merchant VPA) | **Zero MDR as of 2026** — government policy for UPI merchant payments |
| Wallet-funded (PPI) P2M | Small interchange above ₹2,000, settled between providers — not billed to the customer |
| PSP services (soundbox, dashboard, settlement tools) | Commercial products, priced by the PSP |

Two honest footnotes. First, zero MDR is **policy, not physics** — it has held for years
and holds as of 2026, but it is a decision that could change, which is why PSPs monetise
hardware and software instead. Second, the fees PSPs do charge are for *services around*
UPI, not for UPI itself; a soundbox subscription is real money for a real product, but no
one should be paying per-transaction fees for plain UPI receipts.

Payers are never charged for UPI payments.

## What the QR code costs: nothing, ever

The code is the free part, unconditionally. A [UPI QR code](/upi) is a `upi://pay` URI
rendered as a matrix — there is no registration, no per-scan fee, no expiry, and no
mechanism by which generating it *could* cost money. UseQR generates it client-side (your
VPA never leaves the browser), in [bulk](/bulk) if you need a hundred, with
[decode-verification](/validate) included.

Services that charge for "a UPI QR code" are charging for one of three things: a dynamic
redirect you do not need for payments, a dashboard you may or may not need, or nothing.
The [small-shop guide](/docs/payments/upi-qr-for-a-small-shop) covers what a counter
actually requires — printing costs more than the code does.

## Limits meet real businesses

- **Freelancers**: several large client payments can hit personal-VPA daily caps; that, not
  fees, is the practical argument for a merchant VPA at volume — see
  [UPI for freelancers](/docs/payments/upi-qr-for-a-freelancer).
- **Landlords**: multiple rents landing on the 1st can brush the same ceiling.
- **High-ticket merchants**: a customer paying ₹1.2 lakh for jewellery may be blocked by
  *their* limits, not yours. Offer a split across days or an alternative rail rather than
  debugging the code.

## FAQ

### What is the UPI transaction limit per day?
It depends on your bank and app within NPCI's framework. The widely published person-to-person norm is around ₹1 lakh per day, with per-transaction caps varying by bank, and higher ceilings for some verified merchant categories.

### Are there charges for receiving money by UPI QR code?
Person-to-person receipts are free, and merchant payments carry zero MDR as of 2026. Any fees you pay a PSP are for services around UPI — soundboxes, dashboards, settlement tooling — not for the transactions.

### Does it cost money to generate a UPI QR code?
No, and it never legitimately should. The code is just a upi://pay link encoded as a QR matrix. Free generators produce exactly the same payload a paid one would.

### Why did a payment to my QR code fail with a limit error?
The payer hit a bank or app ceiling — daily amount, per-transaction cap, or transaction count. The QR code carries no limits itself, so nothing about the code needs fixing.

## Try it

- https://useqr.app/upi
- https://useqr.app/validate
- https://useqr.app/bulk