For the uninformed, is this like the Interac system in Canada?
There are plans in place to charge a 1.1% fee for transactions to merchants. The indian government claims that there will be savings via banks handling less cash but it provided exactly zero in the way of calculations, estimates or data. In 2022, the indian digital payment industry expected a net loss of around 60 million USD.
If and when it's charged then then you can say it's not free. Until then people should stop parroting lies. Really what a stupid statement!.
UPI requires a bank account, a mobile phone number linked to the bank account and a smartphone to transfer funds for anything other than a trivially small payment (tiny payments are now supported on feature phones).