Mobile phone retailers to protest against UPI MDR charges on October 2

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The government has introduced a 0.4% fee on UPI transfers exceeding ₹2,000 to merchants from October 15, while exempting person-to-person transactions as well as small payments from any charges. Representative file image. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Mobile phone retailers across India plan to observe October 2 as “No UPI Day” in protest against 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on UPI transactions, a senior official of industry body AIMRA said.

The government has introduced a 0.4% fee on UPI transfers exceeding ₹2,000 to merchants from October 15, while exempting person-to-person transactions as well as small payments from any charges.

“The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) has called for a ‘NO UPI DAY’ on October 2, 2026, to highlight the concerns of mobile retailers regarding the 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) applicable to eligible merchant UPI transactions,” AIMRA Vice president and president for the Delhi NCR region, Tarvinder Singh, said in a statement.

He said retailers will symbolically cover UPI QR codes with black cloth and refrain from accepting UPI payments on Gandhi Jayanti.

According to a representation sent to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by AIMRA, the move to impose MDR on UPI will lead to an immediate net monthly loss of ₹2,000 to ₹12,000 for a small retailer processing ₹5 lakh to ₹30 lakh monthly via UPI, thereby wiping out a substantial portion of their net income.

The mobile retailers’ body estimates that 0.4% MDR will impose an unsustainable burden of approximately ₹40 crore per month and nearly ₹500 crore per annum on small mobile retailers across India.

“If We Want Digital India, UPI Must Remain Zero MDR. This is not a protest against UPI or Digital India. Our concern is the additional financial burden being placed on merchants who accept digital payments. If we want Digital India to grow further, digital payments should remain affordable for the entire retail ecosystem. Our clear demand is that UPI merchant payments should continue under a zero MDR structure,” Mr. Singh said.

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