How to Create a UPI QR Code for Your Shop (and Avoid QR Fraud)

To make a UPI QR code for your shop, enter your UPI ID (for example sharmastore@okhdfcbank) and your shop name in the free UPI QR code generator, leave the amount blank, and download the PNG. Customers scan it with any UPI app, type the amount and pay straight into your bank account. You need no registration and no fee, and the code never expires.

This guide explains the difference between a personal UPI ID and a merchant account, what is inside a UPI QR code, how big to print it, how to confirm payments and avoid the common frauds, and where things stand on the new merchant fee (MDR) announced for some UPI payments in 2026.

Personal UPI ID or merchant account?

There are two ways a shop can receive UPI payments.

• Your personal UPI ID (person-to-person, or P2P). The ID you already use in Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm or BHIM, linked to your own savings account. Money goes straight to that account. This is what most small vendors start with, and it is what the site's generator turns into a QR code.
• A merchant account (person-to-merchant, or P2M). A business QR issued by a bank or a payment app's business service, usually settling into a current account. It typically adds payment alerts on a soundbox, a record of collections for your books, and a QR printed with your business name.

NPCI also has an in-between category for small vendors who collect into their personal bank accounts, called P2PM (person-to-person-merchant). It matters for fees: see the MDR section below. A practical rule: if you are a small shop collecting modest amounts, a personal UPI ID and a printed QR is enough to start. Once collections grow, a merchant account keeps business money and household money apart, which makes your accounts and any GST or income tax work far easier.

If your bank or payment app has already given you a merchant QR, keep using that one. It may carry merchant details, such as a merchant category code, that a QR built only from a UPI ID does not.

What is inside a UPI QR code

A UPI QR code is a picture of a short link that starts with upi://pay?, followed by fields defined in NPCI's UPI linking specification. When you scan it inside a UPI app, the app reads the fields and opens a payment screen. The generator builds exactly this link and shows it under the code, so you can check every character before printing. For a counter code it produces:

upi://pay?pa=sharmastore@okhdfcbank&pn=Sharma%20General%20Store&cu=INR

The specification says that when the amount field is absent, the payer can edit the amount. That is why a counter code has no amount, while a code printed on a bill for ₹450 includes am=450.00 so the customer cannot mistype it. The bill version from the generator reads upi://pay?pa=sharmastore@okhdfcbank&pn=Sharma%20Sons&am=450.00&tn=Order%20%23102&cu=INR. Notice that "Sharma & Sons" became "Sharma Sons": the & sign would break the link, so the tool drops it.

The generator does not add merchant fields such as a merchant code or transaction reference, which bank-issued merchant QRs can carry. Everything happens in your browser; the site never handles the payment.

How big to print it

The site's QR library turns the counter link above (70 characters) into a 37 × 37 grid, and the bill link with an amount and note (87 characters) into 41 × 41. More data means smaller squares at the same print size, so give dense codes more room.

• Download Extra large. The counter code comes out at 900 pixels square, which prints sharply at about 7.6 cm wide at 300 dpi.
• Use the 10:1 rule. Make the code at least one-tenth as wide as the scanning distance. A counter code scanned from 30 cm needs about 3 cm; one on a wall 1.5 metres from the customer needs about 15 cm. Bigger than the minimum is kinder to older phones and poor light.
• Keep the white border. The generator adds a margin four squares wide on every side. Do not crop it or place the code on a busy background.
• Print dark on light, and avoid glossy lamination that reflects shop lights. A matte sleeve or a frame behind the counter glass works well.
• Print your shop name and UPI ID under the code, so customers know which name to expect on their screen.

Test before you print a batch: scan with the scanner inside two or three UPI apps (not the phone camera or Google Lens, which often show UPI links as plain text), check your name appears, and pay yourself ₹1. Our QR code generator guide covers error correction, the quiet zone and other uses for QR codes. A WhatsApp QR code beside the payment code lets customers message you orders.

Confirming payments: soundbox, SMS and app alerts

Never treat the customer's phone screen as proof of payment. Fake "payment successful" screenshots and lookalike apps are a common trick at busy counters. Confirm on your side, every time:

• A soundbox is a small internet-connected speaker that announces each payment received, such as "₹450 received". Payment apps and banks provide them, usually for a monthly rental. It suits shops where you cannot look at your phone for every sale.
• Your UPI app's notification or history, or the bank's SMS for the credit. Wait for it before handing over goods for larger amounts.
• End-of-day check: match the day's UPI credits in your bank statement against your sales book.

UPI fraud: what shops and customers should know

NPCI's UPI Safety Shield gives three rules that cover most QR scams: enter your UPI PIN only to send money, because "UPI PIN is NOT required for receiving money"; check the receiver's name before you pay; and scan a QR only to make a payment, never to receive one.

• Swapped stickers. Fraudsters paste their own QR over a shop's code so payments go to them. Check your displayed code every morning, keep it behind glass or in a frame, and pay ₹1 to it if anything looks different.
• "Scan to receive" calls. A "buyer" or "supplier" who sends you a QR code to receive money is trying to take money from you.
• Collect requests. NPCI told banks and apps to stop processing person-to-person collect ("request money") transactions from 1 October 2025, so treat any unexpected request to approve a payment with suspicion.

If you lose money, call the national cyber crime helpline 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in, and tell your bank at once.

Do merchants pay MDR on UPI? (as of October 2026)

The merchant discount rate (MDR) is the fee a merchant pays its bank for accepting a digital payment. UPI payments have been free for merchants since January 2020. That is changing for some payments. On 15 September 2026, after a 2026 amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, the government and NPCI announced this structure:

Key details from NPCI's FAQ: a P2PM vendor whose UPI credits exceed ₹1 lakh a month for three months in a row is moved to the P2M category; merchants cannot pass the MDR on to customers; GST registration is not needed for the zero-MDR tier; and existing QR stands and soundboxes keep working. UPI payments made with a credit card or credit line follow credit-card rules instead.

The fee was due to start on 15 October 2026, but on 13 October 2026 NPCI deferred it to "immediately post Diwali at a date to be notified separately". So as of mid-October 2026 no MDR is being charged. If your shop collects more than ₹1 lakh a month through UPI, ask your bank or payment app which category your account is in and watch for the start date.

Billing clients rather than walk-in customers? Put the fixed-amount code on your invoice made with the invoice generator; see how to make a professional invoice.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to accept UPI payments with my own QR code?

Receiving money on a personal UPI ID is free, and so is making the code here. Under the 2026 rules, small vendors receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month into a personal account stay at zero MDR; the 0.4% fee is for merchant (P2M) payments above ₹2,000 and had not started as of mid-October 2026.

Can I use my personal UPI ID for my shop?

Yes, many small vendors do. As collections grow, a merchant account keeps business money separate and adds alerts and reports, and it may be the category your bank places you in anyway.

Can I make a QR code with a fixed amount?

Yes. Enter the amount and the code includes it, so the customer's app shows that amount. Use it for a single bill, a fee or rent, and keep a separate open-amount code for the counter.

Why does my phone camera not open the payment screen?

Many camera apps and Google Lens show a upi:// link as text instead of passing it to a payment app. Scan with the scanner inside your UPI app.

Does a UPI QR code expire?

No. It keeps working as long as the UPI ID and the bank account behind it are active. If you change banks or IDs, print a new code and remove the old one.

Sources: NPCI, UPI linking specifications (deep link and QR format, version 1.6); NPCI UPI Safety Shield; NPCI, FAQs on MDR on select UPI P2M transactions (15 September 2026) and press release deferring MDR (13 October 2026); PIB, Ministry of Finance release of 15 September 2026; NPCI circular on discontinuing P2P collect requests (July 2025). QR grid sizes generated with the site's QR library.